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Preliminary Observations on the Prevalence, Clinical Manifestations and Control of Filariasis in the Society Islands
H. K. Beye
H. K. Beye
Institut de Recherches Médicales de l'Oceanie Francaise, School of Medicine, University of California, National Institutes of Health, Papeete, Tahiti
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S. A. Edgar
S. A. Edgar
Institut de Recherches Médicales de l'Oceanie Francaise, School of Medicine, University of California, National Institutes of Health, Papeete, Tahiti
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R. Mille
R. Mille
Institut de Recherches Médicales de l'Oceanie Francaise, School of Medicine, University of California, National Institutes of Health, Papeete, Tahiti
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J. F. Kessel
J. F. Kessel
Institut de Recherches Médicales de l'Oceanie Francaise, School of Medicine, University of California, National Institutes of Health, Papeete, Tahiti
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Ben Bambridge
Ben Bambridge
Institut de Recherches Médicales de l'Oceanie Francaise, School of Medicine, University of California, National Institutes of Health, Papeete, Tahiti
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Summary
A survey of 10 experimental areas on the islands of Tahiti and Maiao revealed an incidence of microfilarial carriers of 33% in people over 5 years of age. Males had an average microfilarial density in capillary blood approximately twice that of females. The microfilarial density increased with age to a peak in the 40–49 year age group. Forty-one per cent of the persons examined over one year of age had clinical filariasis, the first attack occurring most often in the age period 20–29 years. Adult specimens of filaria were recovered from two individuals and both these and the microfilariae resembled descriptions of Wuchereria bancrofti from other regions.
Nine species of mosquito were found, the most common being the day biting Aedes pseudoscutellaris (the principal vector), and the night biting Culex quinque-fasciatus.
Diethylcarbamazine (Hetrazan), at a dosage of 2 mg./kg. T.I.D. for 7 days, reduced the microfilarial incidence from 34.4 per cent before treatment to 19.6 per cent at the end of a year and the microfilarial density of the remaining treated positive subjects was less than 10 per cent of the original concentration. There was no reduction in untreated comparison areas. Treatment, however, did not reduce the frequency or severity of clinical filariasis. No seasonal variation in the frequency of attacks of lymphangitis was observed. The drug was well tolerated, although more than half the subjects showed transitory reactions. The treatment campaign appeared to have no effect on the mosquito population, nor did DDT and sanitation, in the course of one year, have an effect upon microfilarial rates or densities, although the evidence suggests that DDT and sanitation reduced the adult mosquito population. No evidence of mosquito resistance to the toxicant was observed during one year.
In the highly endemic area, a combination of treatment, sanitation and use of insecticides would seem to offer the best likelihood of success in the control of filariasis, and studies are being continued in Tahiti to determine the most effective mode of application and association of these measures.
Author Notes
Field Director and Director respectively, Pacific Tropic Diseases Project; School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles.
Laboratory of Tropical Diseases, Microbiological Institute, National Institutes of Health, U. S. P. H. S. Bethesda, Md.
Director, 1948–1951 Institut de Recherches Médicales, Papeete, Tahiti.
Field Campaign Supervisor, Institut de Recherches Médicales, Papeete.
On August 28, 1947, after two years of preliminary investigation, Mr. Wm. A. Robinson of Tahiti proposed to the Governor of French Oceania through Dr. M. Bonnaud, then Chief Medical Officer, that he contribute funds to help found a medical research institute in Tahiti which would provide facilities for international collaboration in the study and prevention of tropic diseases in the Pacific and of filariasis in particular. The Institut de Recherches Médicales de l'Oceanie Francaise was subsequently created by the French Government and a cooperative scientific program designated as the Filariasis Research Project was developed at the University of Southern California, with Mr. Robinson and Mr. Cornelius Crane as founding members. In 1951 the cooperative program was expanded and transferred as the Pacific Tropic Diseases Project, to the Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles.
| Past two years | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 416 | 261 | 151 |
| Full Text Views | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| PDF Downloads | 9 | 3 | 0 |