Exposure variables in bancroftian filariasis in the Nile Delta

ABSTRACT

To demonstrate focality of filariasis within endemic rural areas and to define exposure variables which may influence this phenomenon, the population of an agrarian endemic village, of 12,500 individuals, in the Nile Delta of Egypt was censused. A sequential sample of individuals residing in every 5th house was tested for microfilaremia 239 households with 8.6 +/- 3.5 individuals per household [HHD]. Three areas of the village were tested simultaneously and a questionnaire was filled out for each sampled HHD with special emphasis given to the entomological and environmental factors that might affect filarial infection