Over 25 Years of Hope: Development of Lymphatic Filariasis Patient Support Groups in Haiti.

Support groups can create environments that are conducive to healing and well-being, particularly for persons with stigmatizing chronic diseases. In 1998, the support group concept was adapted in Haiti for persons with disabling lymphedema caused by lymphatic filariasis (LF). The project was developed with the expectation that the support group model conceived in the developed world be interpreted and modified by persons affected with lymphedema in the Haitian setting.

Symptoms reported after mass drug administration for lymphatic filariasis in Leogane, Haiti.

Mass drug administration (MDA) for lymphatic filariasis (LF) can cause adverse reactions from microfilarial and adult worm death. Symptoms after the fifth annual MDA in Leogane, Haiti, were studied to determine whether they resulted from parasite death. Persons reporting post-MDA systemic symptoms at 5 of 148 drug distribution posts and men reporting scrotal pain at any post were interviewed.

Frequency, severity, and costs of adverse reactions following mass treatment for lymphatic filariasis using diethylcarbamazine and albendazole in Leogane, Haiti, 2000.

In October 2000, 71,187 persons were treated for lymphatic filariasis using albendazole and diethylcarbamazine (DEC) or DEC alone in Leogane, Haiti. We documented the frequency of adverse reactions, severity and cost of treatment. Adverse reactions were classified as minor, moderate, or severe.