AJTMH Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 31(6), 1982, pp. 1131-1136
Copyright © 1982 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kozek, W. J.
Right arrow Articles by Navarette, S. N.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kozek, W. J.
Right arrow Articles by Navarette, S. N.

Filariasis in Colombia: Prevalence of Mansonellosis in the Teenage and Adult Population of the Colombian Bank of the Amazon, Comisaría del Amazonas*

Wieslaw J. Kozek, Antonio D'Alessandro, Juan H. Silva AND Silvia N. Navarette{dagger}
The International Collaboration in Infectious Diseases Research Program, Centro Internacional de Investigaciones Médicas, Tulane University-COLCIENCAS, Apartado Aéreo 5390, Cali, Colombia, and Hospital Regional "San Rafael," Leticia, Amazonas, Colombia, S.A.

Abstract. The prevalence and distribution of mansonellosis was studied among the inhabitants of the 16 villages and towns on or near the Colombian bank of the Amazon (Comisaría del Amazonas) and in one neighboring Peruvian village. The average prevalence rate among the blood samples (Knott) of 535 residents was 47.1%; the rate in individual villages ranged from 15.6–84.6%. The infection was more common in men (55%) than in women (42%) and increased with age in both sexes. Approximately 80% of the infected persons had fewer than 200 microfilariae/ml of peripheral blood; in approximately 10% the number exceeded 1,000/ml. The Huitot Indians residing in one (Kilometro 11) of the two settlements populated by immigrants were free of infection; 60% of the Yagua Indians of Peruvian origin who settled in the other (La Maloca) were infected. The high prevalence rates in certain villages and the high number of circulating microfilariae in some of their inhabitants suggested active local transmission. The prevalence of mansonellosis in this area of the Colombian Amazon is similar to that detected in neighboring areas of Brazil, indicating that this region is a part of a larger focus which extends along the Amazon from Brazil into Perú and includes a portion of Colombia. Although the prevalence rate of mansonellosis in this part of the Comisaría del Amazonas is the second highest detected to date in Colombia, these findings should not be extrapolated to indicate that similar prevalence occurs throughout the Comisaría. Additional surveys are needed to determine the distribution and prevalence of mansonellosis in the regions of the Comisaría not included in this study.

Accepted for publication April 14, 1982.


* Supported by a grant AI 0050 and a Program Project Grant AI 16135-01 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.


{dagger} Present address: Departamento de la Química, Hospital Departamental del Valle, Cali, Colombia.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1982 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.