Table 4.
Relation between Loa Loa clinical symptoms and microfilaremia level according to onchocerciasis transmission level
| Characteristic | Onchocerciasis transmission level | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sporadic, n (%) | Hypoendemic, n (%) | Hyperendemic, n (%) | P | |
| Clinical symptoms | ||||
| Pruritus, < 0.01 | 49 (37.7) | 191 (68.7) | 45 (71.4) | – |
| Rash, < 0.01 | 15 (11.5) | 121 (43.5) | 27 (42.9) | – |
| Visual disturbance, 0.025 | 30 (23.3) | 87 (31.3) | 23 (36.5) | – |
| Adult worm in eye, 0.461 | 11 (17.5) | 70 (25.2) | 33 (25.4) | – |
| Calabar swelling, 0.125 | 29 (22.3) | 60 (21.6) | 20 (31.7) | – |
| Urticaria | 2 (1.5) | 25 (9.0) | 3 (4.8) | 0.021 |
| Subcutaneous reptation | 9 (6.9) | 4 (1.4) | 4 (6.3) | 0.070 |
| Pretibial depigmentation | 0 (0.0) | 9 (3.2) | 6 (9.5) | 0.020 |
| L. loa densitity median, mf/mL | ||||
| Low microfilaremia | 700 [200–2,400] | 500 [225–2,375] | 500 [200–1500] | 0.5369 |
| High microfilaremia | 9,500 [8,550–14,400] | 15,000 [8,900–21,850] | 18,700* | 0.3034 |
*
One participant with high microfilaremia density was found in hyperendemic onchocerciasis areas.