Publications by authors named "Marlhand C Hemilembolo"
Background: The standard method to diagnose Loa loa infection and quantify microfilarial density (MFD) is the microscopic examination of calibrated thick blood smears (TBSs). In 1950, it was noticed that successive L. loa MFD samples from a single capillary puncture could exhibit up to 20% variation.
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- Loiasis, caused by the Loa loa worm and affecting around 10 million people in Central Africa, presents challenges in diagnosis and treatment due to potential severe reactions to ivermectin used for other infections.
- Diagnosis typically involves identifying adult worms or microfilariae in blood, but many infections are "occult," prompting the need for new diagnostic tools.
- This study compared two serological rapid antibody tests for loiasis and onchocerciasis, evaluating their effectiveness in diagnosing infections among participants, revealing a high prevalence of both microfilaremia and symptoms related to loiasis.
Background: Loa loa filariasis (loiasis) is still considered a relatively benign disease. However, recent epidemiologic data suggest increased mortality and morbidity in L. loa infected individuals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Loiasis is endemic in the northern and western part of the Republic of Congo. Between 2004 and 2010, surveys were conducted, using the RAPLOA method, in all departments of the Republic of Congo to assess the distribution of loiasis. Prior to 2004, only two parasitological surveys on loiasis had been conducted in Congo and mainly in the Department of Lékoumou, in the southwestern of the country.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Case reports have hypothesised that proteinuria, sometimes with glomerulopathy or nephrotic syndromes, might be associated with loiasis. To our knowledge, no study has been done to assess this association. We aimed to investigate the association between Loa loa microfilariae burden and proteinuria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Individuals with high Loa loa microfilarial densities are at risk of developing severe encephalopathy after administration of antiparasitic drugs. Apart from this finding, loiasis is considered benign with no effect on brain function. However, recent epidemiological data suggest an increased mortality and morbidity in L.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Loiasis ( filariasis) is considered a benign disease and is currently not included in the World Health Organization's (WHO's) list of Neglected Tropical Diseases, despite mounting evidence suggesting significant disease burden in endemic areas. We conducted a retrospective cohort study to assess the mortality associated with microfilaremia in the Southwestern Republic of Congo.
Methods: The cohort included 3329 individuals from 53 villages screened for loiasis in 2004.
Background: The diurnal periodicity of Loa loa microfilaraemia is well known but few studies have documented the short- and long-term stability of microfilarial density. It seems stable over time at the community level, but significant variations have been observed at the individual level.
Methods: We assessed the temporal variability of L.