Mass chemotherapy with niclosamide for the control of : population-based safety profile and treatment effectiveness.

Background: Mass drug administration (MDA) with niclosamide (NSM) can be used to control taeniasis, the cause of neurocysticercosis. NSM is 84.3% effective against taeniasis and is considered safe as it is not absorbed from the intestinal tract.

Geographically Targeted Interventions versus Mass Drug Administration to Control Taenia solium Cysticercosis, Peru.

Optimal control strategies for Taenia solium taeniasis and cysticercosis have not been determined. We conducted a 2-year cluster randomized trial in Peru by assigning 23 villages to 1 of 3 geographically targeted intervention approaches. For ring screening (RS), participants living near pigs with cysticercosis were screened for taeniasis; identified cases were treated with niclosamide.

Neurocysticercosis in Northern Peru: Qualitative Insights from men and women about living with seizures.

Background: Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is a helminthic disease of the central nervous system, and it is one of the leading causes of seizures and symptomatic epilepsy in countries with tropical regions like Peru. Studies of people with epilepsy in Peru's northern coast have consistently found that between 30% and 50% of epilepsy cases is associated with NCC. There are few studies that report on the differences in incidence and prevalence of NCC by sex, and to our knowledge, none that consider the gendered dimensions of having epilepsy.

Evaluating Urban Taeniasis as a Threat to Cysticercosis Elimination in Northern Peru.

Reintroduction of into a region in Peru where it had been eliminated prompted evaluation of the possibility of reintroduction from an urban reservoir of taeniasis. In a cross-sectional study of an adjacent urban area, we found low prevalence of taeniasis (4/1,621; 0.25%), suggesting minimal risk of parasite reintroduction into rural areas through this route.

Interventional programs to improve therapeutic management of people with epilepsy in low- and middle-income countries.

Objective: To assess the current status of initiatives carried out in developing countries to improve therapeutic management of people with epilepsy.

Methods: A literature review was performed in 2015 to identify and analyze interventional programs carried out in countries with low- and middle-income economies. Electronic databases were reviewed with no time restriction.

Herbal medicine uses to treat people with epilepsy: A survey in rural communities of northern Peru.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Epilepsy affects 150,000 people in Peru, with a prevalence of 16.6/1000 and a treatment gap of 75%. Herbal medicine (HM) is widely used in this country.

Neurocysticercosis among People Living Near Pigs Heavily Infected with Cysticercosis in Rural Endemic Peru.

Neurocysticercosis causes substantial neurologic morbidity in endemic regions around the world. In this cross-sectional study, we describe the frequency of neurocysticercosis among a presumed high-risk group of people in an endemic community in northern Peru. Participants who screened positive on a nine-question seizure survey were evaluated clinically to diagnose epilepsy using International League Against Epilepsy criteria.

Spatial relationship between Taenia solium tapeworm carriers and necropsy cyst burden in pigs.

Background: Taenia solium, a parasite that affects humans and pigs, is the leading cause of preventable epilepsy in the developing world. Geographic hotspots of pigs testing positive for serologic markers of T. solium exposure have been observed surrounding the locations of human tapeworm carriers.

Assessing Ultrasonography as a Diagnostic Tool for Porcine Cysticercosis.

Background: Taenia solium inflicts substantial neurologic disease and economic losses on rural communities in many developing nations. "Ring-strategy" is a control intervention that targets treatment of humans and pigs among clusters of households (rings) that surround pigs heavily infected with cysticerci. These pigs are typically identified by examining the animal's tongue for cysts.

Elimination of Taenia solium Transmission in Northern Peru.

Background: Taeniasis and cysticercosis are major causes of seizures and epilepsy. Infection by the causative parasite Taenia solium requires transmission between humans and pigs. The disease is considered to be eradicable, but data on attempts at regional elimination are lacking.

GPS Tracking of Free-Ranging Pigs to Evaluate Ring Strategies for the Control of Cysticercosis/Taeniasis in Peru.

Background: Taenia solium, a parasitic cestode that affects humans and pigs, is the leading cause of preventable epilepsy in the developing world. T. solium eggs are released into the environment through the stool of humans infected with an adult intestinal tapeworm (a condition called taeniasis), and cause cysticercosis when ingested by pigs or other humans.

Ring-screening to control endemic transmission of Taenia solium.

Background: Taenia solium is a major cause of preventable epilepsy in developing nations. Screening and treatment of human intestinal stage infection (taeniasis) within high-risk foci may reduce transmission and prevent epilepsy by limiting human exposure to infective eggs. We piloted a ring-strategy that involves screening and treatment for taeniasis among households located nearby pigs heavily-infected with the larval stage (cysticercosis).

Neurocysticercosis as a cause of epilepsy and seizures in two community-based studies in a cysticercosis-endemic region in Peru.

Background: The prevalence of epilepsy added to inadequate treatment results in chronic morbidity and considerable mortality in poor populations. Neurocysticercosis (NCC), a helminthic disease of the central nervous system, is a leading cause of seizures and epilepsy in most of the world.

Methods: Taking advantage of a cysticercosis elimination program, we performed two community-based cross-sectional studies between 2006 and 2007 in 58 rural communities (population 20,610) to assess the prevalence and characteristics of epilepsy and epileptic seizures in this endemic region.

Geographic correlation between tapeworm carriers and heavily infected cysticercotic pigs.

Background: Neurocysticercosis is a leading cause of preventable epilepsy in the developing world. Sustainable community-based interventions are urgently needed to control transmission of the causative parasite, Taenia solium. We examined the geospatial relationship between live pigs with visible cysticercotic cysts on their tongues and humans with adult intestinal tapeworm infection (taeniasis) in a rural village in northern Peru.

Differentiating Taenia eggs found in human stools: does Ziehl-Neelsen staining help?

Objective: To determine whether Ziehl-Neelsen staining can differentiate Taenia solium from Taenia saginata eggs.

Methods: Tapeworm proglottids (33 specimens, 23 T. solium and 10 T.

Epilepsy and neurocysticercosis: an incidence study in a Peruvian rural population.

Background: Epilepsy is a serious neurological disorder and neurocysticercosis (NCC), the central nervous system infection by the larvae of Taenia solium, is the main cause of acquired epilepsy in developing countries. NCC is becoming more frequent in industrialized countries due to immigration from endemic areas. Previously reported epilepsy incidences range from 30 to 50/100,000 people in industrialized countries and 90 to 122/100,000 people in developing countries.