Méndez GJF, Olguín BH

Language: Spanish
References: 13
Page: 130-137
PDF size: 393.18 Kb.

ABSTRACT

According to the World Health Organization, onchocerciasis is the second cause of global blindness after trachoma. It was first discovered in America by Rodolfo Robles in Guatemala in 1915 (Robles’s disease); in Chiapas, Mexico in 1923; and in Oaxaca in 1926. In 1930, the first control program was established in Mexico that, to date, has worked uninterruptedly. Three stages of the program can be described: a) from 1930-1946 the anti-larvae campaign with creolin was carried out along with the elimination of larvae from water and the removal of nodules; (b) administration of diethylcarbamazine in 1947, removal of nodules and application of DDT in 1952; and c) in 1993 the elimination of the disease with ivermectin treatment and the removal of nodules. Until 1980, an average of 20,000 cases have been reported each year. Since 1993, with the initiation of the administration of ivermectin in two annual doses, the incidence was reduced to ‹100 new cases per year by the end of 2000 and the transmission in two foci (northern Oaxaca and in Chamula in Chiapas) has been deleted, with one remaining in Soconusco, Chiapas. In this article, we report on the campaign against river blindness during the past 17 years and why we assume that, in brief, this disease can be eliminated in Mexico.

REFERENCES

1. Boletín Epidemiológico, SSA. Tomo XXVII. No. 1. México D.F., 1963.

2. Varios autores. Oncocercosis. Salud Pub Mex 1962;4:909-1082.

3. Varios autores. Oncocercosis. Salud Pub Mex 1979;21:679-826.

4. Programa para la eliminación de la oncocercosis en las Américas (OEPA). Disponible en: http://www.oepa.net

5. Martin-Tellaeche A, Ramírez-Hernández J, Santos-Preciado JI, Méndez-Galván J. Onchocerciasis: changes in transmission in Mexico. Ann Trop Med Parasitol 1998;92(Suppl 1):S117-S119.

6. Rodríguez-Pérez MA, Lutzow-Steiner MA, Segura-Cabrera A, Lizarazo-Ortega C, Domínguez-Vázquez A, Sauerbrey M, et al. Rapid suppression of Onchocerca volvulus transmission in two communities of the Southern Chiapas focus, Mexico, achieved by quarterly treatments with Mectizan. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2008;79:239–244.

7. Cupp EW, Duke BO, Mackenzie CD, Guzmán JR, Vieira JC, Mendez-Galván J, et al. The effects of long-term community level treatment with ivermectin (Mectizan®) on adult Onchocerca volvulus in Latin America. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2004;71:602-607.

8. Rodríguez-Pérez MA, Unnasch TR, Domínguez-Vázquez A, Morales-Castro AL, Peña-Flores GP, Orozco-Algarra ME, et al. Interruption of transmission of Onchocerca volvulus in the Oaxaca focus, Mexico. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2010;83:21-27.

9. Rodríguez-Pérez MA, Lizarazo-Ortega C, Hassan HK, Domínguez-Vásquez A, Méndez-Galván J, Lugo-Moreno P, et al. Evidence for suppression of Onchocerca volvulus transmission in the Oaxaca focus in Mexico. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2008;78:147–152.

10. Rodríguez-Pérez MA, Unnasch TR, Domínguez-Vázquez A, Morales-Castro AL, Richards FJr, Peña-Flores GP, et al. Lack of active Onchocerca volvulus transmission in the Northern Chiapas focus of Mexico. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2010;83:15-20.

11. World Health Organization. Onchocerciasis (river blindness). Prevention of blindness and visual impairment. Priority eye diseases. Trachoma. Disponible en: http://www.who.int/blindness/causes/priority/en/index3.html

12. Thylefors B, Alleman MM, Twum-Danso NA. Operational lessons from 20 years of the Mectizan Donation Program for the control of onchocerciasis. Trop Med Int Health 2008;13:689-696.

13. Rodríguez CG, Lizarazo OC. Revisión epidemiológica de la oncocercosis en América Latina. Rev Fac Nac Salud Pub 2010;28:73-80.