| Title: |
Treatment and prevention of epilepsy in onchocerciasis-endemic areas is urgently needed |
| Authors: |
Colebunders, R; Siewe Fodjo, JN; Kamoen, O; Amaral, L-J; Hadermann, A; Trevisan, C; Taylor, MJ; Gauglitz, J; Hoerauf, A; Sato, Y; Polman, K; Basáñez, M-G; Bhwana, D; Lakwo, T; Abd-Elfarag, G; Pion, SD |
| Publisher Information: |
BioMed Central |
| Publication Year: |
2024 |
| Collection: |
Imperial College London: Spiral |
| Subject Geographic: |
England |
| Description: |
BACKGROUND: There is increasing epidemiological evidence supporting the association between onchocerciasis and seizures, reinforcing the concept of onchocerciasis-associated epilepsy (OAE). The aim of this paper is to provide an update on the new knowledge about OAE and to propose recommendations to the World Health Organization how to address this public health problem. MAIN TEXT: During the 2nd International Workshop on OAE held on 19-21 September, 2023, in Antwerp, Belgium, participants recognised OAE as a substantial yet neglected public health problem, particularly in areas of sub-Saharan Africa where onchocerciasis remains hyperendemic. Evidence from prospective population-based studies suggest that strengthening onchocerciasis elimination efforts leads to a significant reduction of OAE incidence. There is a need to validate an OAE case definition to estimate the burden of disease and identify onchocerciasis-endemic areas requiring intensification of onchocerciasis elimination programmes and integration of epilepsy care. It is expected that raising awareness about OAE will boost the population uptake of ivermectin. The implementation of a community-based epilepsy treatment programme offering free anti-seizure medications (ASMs) has shown high effectiveness in reducing the frequency of seizures and improving the overall quality of life of people with epilepsy. CONCLUSIONS: To reduce OAE burden, enhanced collaboration between onchocerciasis and mental health programmes at community, national, and international levels is required. Urgent efforts are needed to ensure the uninterrupted provision of free ASMs in onchocerciasis-endemic areas. Furthermore, OAE should be included in the quantification of the onchocerciasis disease burden. |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: |
English |
| Relation: |
Infectious Diseases of Poverty; http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/110280 |
| DOI: |
10.1186/s40249-024-01174-8 |
| Availability: |
http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/110280; https://doi.org/10.1186/s40249-024-01174-8 |
| Rights: |
© The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecom‑ mons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. ; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.70C53F1D |
| Database: |
BASE |