The onchocerciasis hypothesis of nodding syndrome.

Nodding syndrome (NS) is a phenotypic presentation of onchocerciasis-associated epilepsy (OAE). OAE is an important public health problem in areas with high ongoing Onchocerca volvulus transmission. OAE, including NS, is preventable by strengthening onchocerciasis elimination programs. The presence...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Main Authors: Robert Colebunders, Amber Hadermann, Joseph Nelson Siewe Fodjo
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0011523
https://doaj.org/article/d96c71e8241c4c64a42368fec4991c7c
Description
Summary:Nodding syndrome (NS) is a phenotypic presentation of onchocerciasis-associated epilepsy (OAE). OAE is an important public health problem in areas with high ongoing Onchocerca volvulus transmission. OAE, including NS, is preventable by strengthening onchocerciasis elimination programs. The presence of tau in OAE postmortem brains could be the consequence of neuroinflammation directly or indirectly induced by O. volvulus. Omics research is needed to investigate whether O. volvulus worms contain a neurotropic virus.