ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: In July 2006 Sri Lanka completed 5 rounds of annual mass drug administration (MDA) with diethylcarbamazine citrate (DEC) and albendazole as part of its national programme for elimination of lymphatic filariasis (LF). Albendazole is highly effective against soil-transmitted helminths (STH). This study was carried out to assess the effect of repeated annual MDA on STH infections in the Western Province of Sri Lanka, an area co-endemic for LF and STH. METHODS: Faecal samples were obtained (during August-September 2006), from grade 5 students in 17 schools in the Western Province that were included in a national survey of schoolchildren's health in 2003, and examined using the modified Kato-Katz technique. The prevalence and intensity of roundworm, whipworm and hookworm infections in 2003 and 2006 were compared. RRESULTS:Faecal samples from 255 children were examined in 2003; 448 were examined in 2006. Roundworm prevalence was marginally lower in 2006 (4.0%) than in 2003 (4.7%), as was hookworm (0.2% vs 0.4%), whereas whipworm prevalence was higher (13.8% vs 9.4%). These differences as well as that between the geometric mean egg counts were not statistically significant. Compliance with MDA in 2006, as reported by the schoolchildren examined, was only 59%. CCONCLUSIONS:Four annual rounds of MDA with DEC and albendazole had virtually no effect on STH infections in the study area.
Subject(s)
Albendazole/administration & dosage , Animals , Anthelmintics/administration & dosage , Child , Communicable Disease Control/methods , Diethylcarbamazine/administration & dosage , Drug Therapy, Combination , Elephantiasis, Filarial/epidemiology , Feces/parasitology , Filaricides/administration & dosage , Helminths/isolation & purification , Humans , Prevalence , Sri Lanka/epidemiology , Time FactorsABSTRACT
A case of Nocardia brain abscess in a patient receiving immunosuppressives is reported. The diagnosis was made by aspiration and culture of pus from the abscess. This is the first documented case of Nocardia brain abscess in Sri Lanka.
Subject(s)
Adult , Brain Abscess/microbiology , Humans , Male , Nocardia Infections/diagnostic imaging , Nocardia asteroides , Tomography, X-Ray ComputedABSTRACT
We describe a case of idiopathic bronchiolitis obiterans, an uncommon cause of small airway disease. A restrictive ventilatory defect and a favourable response to corticosteroids are characteristic of this disease. This condition has not been documented previously in Sri Lanka.
Subject(s)
Adult , Bronchiolitis Obliterans/pathology , Female , HumansABSTRACT
We report the case history of a patient with Salmonella typhi endocarditis. Bacteriological diagnosis was made by bone marrow culture when isolation from blood was unsuccessful. This is the first case of S typhi endocarditis to be documented in Sri Lanka.