What is river blindness?

River blindness is a debilitating disease caused by a parasitic worm and is the second main cause of infectious blindness in the world. It is also called onchocericiasis , because the worm that causes diseases is onchocerca Volvulus . The infection spreads Blackfly, which lives near running water. 99% of cases of this disease are in Africa. This disease is located in 30 African countries, Yemen and parts of Central and South America. Unlikely that occasional travelers would close this disease. However, those who remain longer, such as missionaries, volunteers of peace corporations and adventure travelers, may be infected with this parasite. There is no vaccine or preventive drugs for river blindness.

People living in agricultural villages near running water infected with a string may not have symptoms. Symptoms of river blindness include one or more of several conditions. Infected individuals may have eye lesions, skin rash and maybe run under the skin. In the most serious pRome leads to eye lesions to blindness.

In order to get infected, the person must be bitten by the Blackflies infected several times. These insects inject microscopic worms called microfilaria to a person. The more these worms have a person, the worse his infection. Blindness is practically always associated with severe cases of this disease. This parasite does not kill a person, but it is estimated to shorten his life by 13 years.

flies connect in the area under the skin. A single worm can live up to fifteen years. Every female worm can produce millions of microfilaria during their lifetime. Microfilariae may cause a strong immune response to inflammation that has the ability to damage tissue in the area. They also cause a particularly strong response when they die.

The

prevention effort included spraying of rapidly flowing rivers with insecticides that focus on the larvae of the flies. Treatment of river blindness includes the use of a drug of ivermectin, also known as Mectizan®, to treat the whole community. This medicine kills microfilariae, causing initial side effects, but in the long run the treatment of the disease. The adult worm survives but cannot produce any offspring. In 1988 Merck & Co. It started to provide ivermectin free of charge through the Mectizan® donor program (MDP) in areas that have persistent river blind problems.

MDP was successful in the treatment of river blindness. However, it was not clear whether the disease could be removed. Since 2009, research has indicated that two-year or annual treatment for 15-17 years has been eliminated by the spread of the disease in parts of Africa. Only a few uniforms still had infections and after treatment no subsequent transmission of the disease was stopped for several years. This is good to remove river blindness in other areas.