Assessment of the prevalence of lymphatic filariasis in 2008 in French Polynesia.

Introduction - The Pacific Regional Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination Program (PacELF) was launched in French Polynesia in 2000. It was necessary to assess its impact across the entire territory in 2008 in order to determine how to proceed. Methods - A cross-sectional survey was conducted on a two-stage stratified cluster sample representative of the population aged 2 years and older in French Polynesia, using a standardized questionnaire administered face-to-face and a venous blood sample for the diagnosis of filarial infection. Results - The study revealed a prevalence of 11.3% of positive antigenemia (AD12) by immunochromatography (ICT). Ten percent of these individuals were microfilaremic. Filarial morbidity was 0.5%. Conclusion - None of the studied strata had an infection prevalence below 1% (by ICT), which corresponds to the elimination threshold for lymphatic filariasis defined by the PacELF program. These results confirm that filarial endemicity remains well established in French Polynesia. (R.A.)

Author(s): Mou Y, Plichart C, Legrand AM, Mallet HP, Cerf N, Nguyen LN

Publishing year: 2009

Pages: 504-7

Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin, 2009, n° 48-49-50, p. 504-7

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