Effectiveness of Diethylcarbamazine in Treating Loiasis Acquired by Expatriate Visitors to Endemic Regions: Long-Term Follow-Up

Although successful treatment of loiasis with diethylcarbamazine (DEC) has been reported, little is known about the long-term success rate of therapy or the predisposing factors for treatment failure. To address these questions, 32 patients were followed 2-15 years (median, 4.5) after DEC treatment;...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of infectious diseases 1994-03, Vol.169 (3), p.604-610
Main Authors: Klion, A. D., Ottesen, E. A., Nutman, T. B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antibiotics. Antiinfectious agents. Antiparasitic agents
Antibodies
Antiparasitic agents
Biological and medical sciences
Blood
Diethylcarbamazine - therapeutic use
Eosinophils
Expatriates
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Infections
Loiasis
Loiasis - drug therapy
Loiasis - epidemiology
Loiasis - immunology
Loiasis - transmission
Major Articles
Medical sciences
Microfilariae
Parasites
Pharmacology. Drug treatments
Recurrence
Relapse
Symptoms
Travel
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Summary:Although successful treatment of loiasis with diethylcarbamazine (DEC) has been reported, little is known about the long-term success rate of therapy or the predisposing factors for treatment failure. To address these questions, 32 patients were followed 2-15 years (median, 4.5) after DEC treatment; all had acquired infection while expatriate visitors to endemic areas of Africa. Using a strict definition of successful treatment, 12 (38%) appeared to be cured after one course of therapy and 5 (16%) after two courses. Of the remaining 15 patients, 3 continued to be symptomatic despite more than four courses of treatment. Although 12 of the 17 patients who relapsed did so within 1 year of treatment, severalhad relatively long asymptomatic periods (2-8 years). There was no predictive difference in clinical or laboratory parameters (including eosinophilia and specific filarial serology) between patients requiring one or more courses of therapy.
ISSN:0022-1899
1537-6613
DOI:10.1093/infdis/169.3.604