Characteristics of people with epilepsy and Neurocysticercosis in three eastern African countries-A pooled analysis.
Background Neurocysticercosis (NCC), a zoonotic disease caused by the pork tapeworm T. solium, represents one of the most common causes of secondary epilepsy but remains often undiagnosed due to lack of awareness and diagnostic facilities. Methodology We pooled data from four cross-sectional studies...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:0258620894144bbfbe62f0a5f935c4aa 2023-05-15T15:18:07+02:00 Characteristics of people with epilepsy and Neurocysticercosis in three eastern African countries-A pooled analysis. Dominik Stelzle Veronika Schmidt Luise Keller Bernard J Ngowi William Matuja Gabrielle Escheu Peter Hauke Vivien Richter Emilio Ovuga Bettina Pfausler Erich Schmutzhard Action Amos Wendy Harrison Joyce Kaducu Andrea S Winkler 2022-11-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010870 https://doaj.org/article/0258620894144bbfbe62f0a5f935c4aa EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010870 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0010870 https://doaj.org/article/0258620894144bbfbe62f0a5f935c4aa PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 16, Iss 11, p e0010870 (2022) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010870 2023-01-29T01:25:55Z Background Neurocysticercosis (NCC), a zoonotic disease caused by the pork tapeworm T. solium, represents one of the most common causes of secondary epilepsy but remains often undiagnosed due to lack of awareness and diagnostic facilities. Methodology We pooled data from four cross-sectional studies on epilepsy and NCC in eastern Africa. Study sites were in Uganda, Malawi and in Tanzania (Dar es Salaam and Haydom). The study in Uganda and Malawi were community-based, the two studies in Tanzania were hospital-based. The same questionnaire was used for assessment of clinical characteristics of patients with epilepsy. Computed tomography (CT) scans and serological testing were performed in order to diagnose NCC. Results Overall, 1,179 people with epilepsy were included in our analysis. Of those, 941 PWE underwent CT scanning and were pooled for NCC analysis. Seventy patients were diagnosed with NCC, but NCC prevalence differed considerably between sites ranging from 2.0% (95%CI 0.4% to 3.6%) in Dar es Salaam to 17.5% (95%CI 12.4% to 22.6%) in Haydom. NCC prevalence did not show any association with sex but increased with age and was higher in rural than urban settings. In addition, being a farmer, non-Muslim, eating pork and living with pigs close by was associated with a higher NCC prevalence. PWE with NCC experienced their first epileptic seizure around 3 years later in life compared to PWE without NCC and their epileptic seizures seemed to be better controlled (p<0.001). There was no difference between focal onset seizures and focal signs on neurological examination in both groups (p = 0.49 and p = 0.92, respectively). The rT24H-EITB had a sensitivity for the detection of NCC of 70% (95% confidence interval [CI] 51 to 84%), the LLGP of 76% (95%CI 58 to 89%) and the antigen ELISA of 36% (95% CI 20 to 55%). Conclusions NCC is prevalent among PWE in eastern Africa, although it may not be as common as previously stated. Demographic characteristics of PWE with NCC differed from those without NCC, but semiological ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 16 11 e0010870 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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English |
topic |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Dominik Stelzle Veronika Schmidt Luise Keller Bernard J Ngowi William Matuja Gabrielle Escheu Peter Hauke Vivien Richter Emilio Ovuga Bettina Pfausler Erich Schmutzhard Action Amos Wendy Harrison Joyce Kaducu Andrea S Winkler Characteristics of people with epilepsy and Neurocysticercosis in three eastern African countries-A pooled analysis. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
Background Neurocysticercosis (NCC), a zoonotic disease caused by the pork tapeworm T. solium, represents one of the most common causes of secondary epilepsy but remains often undiagnosed due to lack of awareness and diagnostic facilities. Methodology We pooled data from four cross-sectional studies on epilepsy and NCC in eastern Africa. Study sites were in Uganda, Malawi and in Tanzania (Dar es Salaam and Haydom). The study in Uganda and Malawi were community-based, the two studies in Tanzania were hospital-based. The same questionnaire was used for assessment of clinical characteristics of patients with epilepsy. Computed tomography (CT) scans and serological testing were performed in order to diagnose NCC. Results Overall, 1,179 people with epilepsy were included in our analysis. Of those, 941 PWE underwent CT scanning and were pooled for NCC analysis. Seventy patients were diagnosed with NCC, but NCC prevalence differed considerably between sites ranging from 2.0% (95%CI 0.4% to 3.6%) in Dar es Salaam to 17.5% (95%CI 12.4% to 22.6%) in Haydom. NCC prevalence did not show any association with sex but increased with age and was higher in rural than urban settings. In addition, being a farmer, non-Muslim, eating pork and living with pigs close by was associated with a higher NCC prevalence. PWE with NCC experienced their first epileptic seizure around 3 years later in life compared to PWE without NCC and their epileptic seizures seemed to be better controlled (p<0.001). There was no difference between focal onset seizures and focal signs on neurological examination in both groups (p = 0.49 and p = 0.92, respectively). The rT24H-EITB had a sensitivity for the detection of NCC of 70% (95% confidence interval [CI] 51 to 84%), the LLGP of 76% (95%CI 58 to 89%) and the antigen ELISA of 36% (95% CI 20 to 55%). Conclusions NCC is prevalent among PWE in eastern Africa, although it may not be as common as previously stated. Demographic characteristics of PWE with NCC differed from those without NCC, but semiological ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Dominik Stelzle Veronika Schmidt Luise Keller Bernard J Ngowi William Matuja Gabrielle Escheu Peter Hauke Vivien Richter Emilio Ovuga Bettina Pfausler Erich Schmutzhard Action Amos Wendy Harrison Joyce Kaducu Andrea S Winkler |
author_facet |
Dominik Stelzle Veronika Schmidt Luise Keller Bernard J Ngowi William Matuja Gabrielle Escheu Peter Hauke Vivien Richter Emilio Ovuga Bettina Pfausler Erich Schmutzhard Action Amos Wendy Harrison Joyce Kaducu Andrea S Winkler |
author_sort |
Dominik Stelzle |
title |
Characteristics of people with epilepsy and Neurocysticercosis in three eastern African countries-A pooled analysis. |
title_short |
Characteristics of people with epilepsy and Neurocysticercosis in three eastern African countries-A pooled analysis. |
title_full |
Characteristics of people with epilepsy and Neurocysticercosis in three eastern African countries-A pooled analysis. |
title_fullStr |
Characteristics of people with epilepsy and Neurocysticercosis in three eastern African countries-A pooled analysis. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Characteristics of people with epilepsy and Neurocysticercosis in three eastern African countries-A pooled analysis. |
title_sort |
characteristics of people with epilepsy and neurocysticercosis in three eastern african countries-a pooled analysis. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010870 https://doaj.org/article/0258620894144bbfbe62f0a5f935c4aa |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 16, Iss 11, p e0010870 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010870 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0010870 https://doaj.org/article/0258620894144bbfbe62f0a5f935c4aa |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010870 |
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PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
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16 |
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11 |
container_start_page |
e0010870 |
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