A clinico-epidemiological perspective of lymphatic filariasis in Satyabadi block of Puri district, Orissa.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Lymphatic filariasis is a major public health problem in the coastal district of Orissa. However, no systematic studies have been done to document the prevalence of microfilaraemia/disease in different regions of the State. Therefore, the present cross sectional study was undertaken during 1996-97 to obtain information on the clinical and epidemiological status of the disease in Satyabadi block area of Puri district, known to be endemic for filariasis. METHODS: Night blood smear survey and clinical examinations were performed on 4646 individuals aged 0-> or = 60 yr from systematically selected households of 17 randomly selected villages of the Block. Microfilaraemia was detected by thick drop technique using 20 microliters of peripheral blood and microfilariae (mf) density by nucleopore filtration technique collected during 1900-2300 h. RESULTS: The prevalence of microfilaraemia was observed to be 14.8 per cent; 13.3 per cent Wuchereria bancrofti, 1.4 per cent Brugia malayi and 0.09 per cent had mixed infections. Geometric mean microfilaraemia density (infected persons only) was found to be 1288 per ml in case of W. bancrofti and 204 per ml in case of B. malayi. The disease rate was observed to be 19.8 per cent; 12.85 per cent had acute manifestations and 6.97 per cent had chronic manifestations. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: The rate of acute disease manifestations was observed to be significantly higher (P < 0.001) than chronic manifestations. There was a male preponderence among the affected individuals (P < 0.001). The interesting observations of the study were the occurrence of occult filarial manifestations viz., tropical pulmonary eosinophilia (TPE) in 0.47 per cent cases and other associated manifestations like asymptomatic microscopic haematuria, monoarticular arthritis and filarial associated respiratory diseases in 0.50, 0.24 and 0.19 per cent of cases respectively. The present study indicates that the area is highly endemic for lymphatic filariasis with active transmission.