Proyecto piloto de un campaña de tratamiento médico de oncocercosis, basado en la administración de suramina sódica; 1955

1. In preparation for a pilot project for the medical treatment of onchocerciasis with suramin (USP III) 1,142 inhabitants from Yepocapa, Chimaltenango, Guatemala, were examined for various manifestations of onchocerciasis

2. Approximately half of all adults examined had demonstrable microfilariae on skin biopsies. The youngest individuals with a positive biopsy was two years old

3. One fourth of the subjects examined had palpable nodules. Fifty-four per cent of the nodules were located on the head. The remaining were fairly evenly distributed between the thorax and pelvic region with but one per cent palpated on the arms or legs

4. The youngest patient on whom a nodule was proved to be onchocercal was a twenty-six month old child. A nodule was palpated on an eighteen month infant, but examination following excision proved it to be a hypertrophied lymph node

5. Twenty-six or 2.2 per cent of the population examined were blind in one of both eyes

6. Ocular symptoms consisting of entopic vision of worms, hazy vision and unpleasant sensations were encountered in approximately one fourth of the subjects interviewed

7. Visula acuity was diminished in a little more than one third and visual fields constricted in one eighth of the individuals tested

8. Examination with a hand slit lamp showed alterations of the conjunctiva and limbus in 15.9 per cent of the patients examined. ...(AU)