{"id":1655,"date":"2020-07-12T06:31:39","date_gmt":"2020-07-12T06:31:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blog.kayawell.com\/?p=1655"},"modified":"2020-07-14T13:24:52","modified_gmt":"2020-07-14T13:24:52","slug":"onchocerciasis-river-blindness-symptoms-causes-risk-factors-and-preventive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kayawell.com\/blog\/onchocerciasis-river-blindness-symptoms-causes-risk-factors-and-preventive","title":{"rendered":"Onchocerciasis (River Blindness) &#8211; Symptoms, Causes, Risk Factors and Preventive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Onchocerciasis, also called River Blindness, is a condition\nwhich affects the skin and eyes. It is caused by the volvulus Onchocerca worm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Onchocerca volvulus is a parasite. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spread to humans and\nlivestock through the bite of a type of blackfly from the genus Simulium. This\ntype of blackfly is found near rivers and streams. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where the name \u00e2\u20ac\u0153river\nblindness\u00e2\u20ac\u009d comes from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_73 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\r\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\r\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\r\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\r\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kayawell.com\/blog\/onchocerciasis-river-blindness-symptoms-causes-risk-factors-and-preventive\/#Symptoms\" title=\"Symptoms\">Symptoms<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kayawell.com\/blog\/onchocerciasis-river-blindness-symptoms-causes-risk-factors-and-preventive\/#What_causes_Onchocerciasis\" title=\"What causes Onchocerciasis?\">What causes Onchocerciasis?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kayawell.com\/blog\/onchocerciasis-river-blindness-symptoms-causes-risk-factors-and-preventive\/#What_are_the_risk_factors_for_onchocerciasis\" title=\"What are the risk factors for onchocerciasis?\">What are the risk factors for onchocerciasis?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kayawell.com\/blog\/onchocerciasis-river-blindness-symptoms-causes-risk-factors-and-preventive\/#Complications\" title=\"Complications\">Complications<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kayawell.com\/blog\/onchocerciasis-river-blindness-symptoms-causes-risk-factors-and-preventive\/#Preventive_Methods\" title=\"Preventive Methods\">Preventive Methods<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Symptoms\"><\/span>Symptoms<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Not everyone with onchocerciasis will have symptoms,\nespecially not right away. Most new infections won&#8217;t start to show any symptoms\nfor a year or two, and those with mild cases might never even know they&#8217;ve been\ninfected with the parasite. While the most well-known symptom of onchocerciasis\nis blindness (thus the nickname), the disease affects both the skin and the\neyes and can cause a range of symptoms, from irksome to disfiguring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Symptoms Include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Nodules\nunder the skin where the adult worms are<\/li><li>Intense\nitchiness<\/li><li>Swelling<\/li><li>Changes\nin the skin, sometimes called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153leopard\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153lizard\u00e2\u20ac\u009d skin<\/li><li>Lesions\non the eye<\/li><li>Altered\nvision<\/li><li>Blindness<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s important to note that it often takes more than one\nblackfly bite to get infected with onchocerciasis. Usually, the most severe and\ncrippling outcomes associated with the disease occur after years of prolonged\nparasite exposure. The more infections a person experiences throughout their\nlifetime, the more likely the damage done to the eyes and skin becomes\npermanent or leads to blindness and disfigurement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_causes_Onchocerciasis\"><\/span>What causes Onchocerciasis?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The cause of onchocerciasis is the transfer of the Onchocerca\nvolvulus parasite larvae by the female blackfly when a human is given a blood\nmeal (bites) by the fly. The larvae enter the subcutaneous tissue and evolve\ninto male and female adult worms (filarial nematodes). These reproduce in the\nhuman tissue and form microfilariae which migrate to other areas of the connective\ntissue and occasionally to blood, urine and sputum. Additionally, both adult\nworms and microfilaria are colonized with so-called Wolbachia bacteria that\nhelp survive these parasites. When the worms die, an immune response from the\nhost ensues that optical tissue in the eye may be damaged. The parasite life\ncycle continues when a blackfly bites a human and ingests microfilariae during\nhis blood meal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_are_the_risk_factors_for_onchocerciasis\"><\/span>What are the risk factors for onchocerciasis?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Living in and visiting sub-Saharan Africa and a few other areas\nwhere blackfly is endemic is a major risk factor for developing onchocerciasis.\nThe disease usually occurs after repeated exposure to blackfly bites, so there\nis little risk for short-term travellers in these areas; however, missionaries,\nvolunteer health workers and others who may spend a few months in areas have\nincreased risk of infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Complications\"><\/span>Complications<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The nodding disease has been associated with onchocerciasis\nwhich is a rare type of epilepsy. It is relatively rare and affects about\n10,000 children in eastern Africa. Trials are being conducted to learn whether\nor not doxycycline could help reduce the neuroinflammation that occurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Preventive_Methods\"><\/span>Preventive Methods<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The most serious symptoms of river blindness arise from\nrepeated parasite exposure. This is why preventing future infections is an\nimportant part of treatment. There&#8217;s no vaccine or drug that can prevent an onchocerciasis\ninfection, but there are things you and whole communities can do to lower the\nodds of getting one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Personal Protection<\/strong>: Because no vaccine or effective\nchemoprophylaxis is available to prevent onchocerciasis, one method used to\nreduce the chance of infection is to take basic measures to avoid getting\nbitten by the black fly.&nbsp; These measures\ninclude avoiding the black fly habitat, using insecticides like DEET, wearing\nlong pants and sleeves, and putting insect netting around where one sleeps.&nbsp; These methods are fairly effective for\ntravellers, but less effective for people who live in endemic areas.<\/li><li><strong>Vector Control<\/strong>: One step countries take to reduce\nthe number of river blindness cases is by removing its vector: the black fly.\nWithout the help of blackflies, the parasite cannot spread within a community.\nSprinkling the breeding sites of the flies with insecticide can disrupt the\nparasite&#8217;s life cycle and stop new infections from occurring in the area.<\/li><li><strong>Mass Treatment Programs<\/strong>: Another way areas work to prevent\nthe parasite from spreading is by aggressive care with ivermectin for all in a\ngiven population, regardless of whether they have been diagnosed with the\nparasite. This not only helps to treat light infections that may not have been\ndetected with diagnostic tests but also disrupts the parasite&#8217;s life cycle.\nBlackflies spread the larvae from person to person (not the adult worms), so by\ntreating everyone in the area to kill the larvae, the blackflies don&#8217;t have\nanything to go through, and communities can stop new infections for a while.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Onchocerciasis, also called River Blindness, is a condition which affects the skin and eyes. It is caused by the volvulus Onchocerca worm. Onchocerca volvulus is a parasite. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spread to humans and livestock through the bite of a type of blackfly from the genus Simulium. This type of blackfly is found near rivers and streams. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthcare"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kayawell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kayawell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kayawell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kayawell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kayawell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kayawell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kayawell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kayawell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kayawell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kayawell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}