Ivermectin does not reduce the burden of itching in an onchocerciasis endemic community
- 1 May 1992
- journal article
- clinical trial
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
- Vol. 86 (3), 281-283
- https://doi.org/10.1016/0035-9203(92)90309-z
Abstract
Degrees of itching were estimated before and for 6 months after a fourth dose of ivermectin or placebo was given to 97 subjects in Sierra Leone. There was no reduction in itching attributable to ivermectin at any stage, but there were non-significant increases in the prevalence, severity and localization of itching within the first 2 months after ivermectin compared to placebo. We also found that cell-mediated immune responses to Onchocerca volvulus were significantly increased 4 weeks after a single dose of ivermectin compared to before treatment. A temporary reversal of the state of immunosuppression in people with onchocerciasis may counterbalance the reduction in skin microfilarial loads following ivermectin, with no consequent reduction in itching. The lack of effect of ivermectin on itching, a major symptom of onchocerciasis, while disappointing, need not detract from the success of mass distribution programmes.Keywords
This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
- A community trial of ivermectin for onchocerciasis in Sierra Leone: clinical and parasitological responses to four doses given at six-monthly intervalsTransactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 1992
- A community trial of ivermectin for onchocerciasis in Sierra Leone: adverse reactions after the first five treatment roundsTransactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 1991
- Changes in ocular onchocerciasis four and twelve months after community-based treatment with ivermectin in a holoendemic onchocerciasis focusTransactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 1990