Elimination or control of the onchocerciasis in Africa? Case of Gami village in Central African Republic

The authors return the results of a transverse prospective survey whose goal was to value the impact of struggle against the onchocerciasis after 20 years of distribution of ivermectin in a village of the Central African Republic. A transverse prospective survey with a descriptive and analytic aim of a sample of 393 topics aged of more than 5 years residing in Gami Village since more of 2 years and having benefitted the ivermectine in the last distribution that took place 10 months before. The epidemiological, clinical and parasitologic data introverted have been compared to the results of the previous investigations in the village. The parameters improved distinctly during the 20 years (1990-2010) notably the microfilarian indication (88% in 1990 against 19% in 2010), the middle microfilarian density (54 against 0,7), the CMFL Indication (39 against 0,67), the Knuttgen indication moved of the trance of age of 5-9 years to the one of more than 45 years since 1998), the cystic indication (36% against 8%), the ocular lesions (31% against 4%) of which onchocercian (28% against 2%), serious ocular lesions (16% against 1,3%), rate of blindness (9% against 0,8%), rate of meadow-blindness (9% against 0,8), important loss of vision (3% against 0,0%), ocular lesions in children of 6-10 years old (6% against 0,3%). These data permit to speak of control but not of elimination of the onchocerciasis in the grouping villager of Gami because of the persistence of the microfilarian indications susceptible to maintain the transmission of where necessity to pursue the struggle. © 2014 Springer-Verlag France.