Abstract
BACKGROUND—An epidemic of bilateral optic neuropathy is affecting large numbers of people aged between 10 and 40 in Dar es Salaam, the capital city of Tanzania. The disease is characterised by acute onset of bilateral visual impairment, bilateral impairment of colour vision, and a characteristic temporal pallor of the optic discs. The disease often occurs in association with peripheral neuropathy and sensorineural hearing loss. This report presents the first data on disease prevalence in adolescents, based on a rapid assessment of schoolchildren. METHODS—Three schools in Dar es Salaam were visited and all children aged between 10 and 16 were screened for the disease. RESULTS—The prevalence of bilateral optic neuropathy among the schoolchildren is estimated to be 1.0% (95% CI 0.5-1.4%). This suggests that 5000 children (95% CI 2600-7300) aged 10-16 in Dar es Salaam may have the disease. CONCLUSION—The results of this rapid assessment indicate this epidemic is a major public health problem. The prevalence of the disease in the community is likely to be far higher than found in this survey because children with the disease may have withdrawn from school. As the disease predominantly affects young adults, resulting in impaired vision and hearing, the economic and social consequences are enormous. Keywords: optic neuropathy; schoolchildren; Tanzania
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (66.6 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Hedges T. R., 3rd, Hirano M., Tucker K., Caballero B. Epidemic optic and peripheral neuropathy in Cuba: a unique geopolitical public health problem. Surv Ophthalmol. 1997 Jan-Feb;41(4):341–353. doi: 10.1016/s0039-6257(96)00008-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Johnson G. J., Mtanda A. T., Negrel A. D. Macular degeneration of unknown origin in Tanzania. Lancet. 1991 Sep 28;338(8770):827–828. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(91)90722-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Plant G. T., Mtanda A. T., Arden G. B., Johnson G. J. An epidemic of optic neuropathy in Tanzania: characterization of the visual disorder and associated peripheral neuropathy. J Neurol Sci. 1997 Feb 12;145(2):127–140. doi: 10.1016/s0022-510x(96)00162-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Román G. C. An epidemic in Cuba of optic neuropathy, sensorineural deafness, peripheral sensory neuropathy and dorsolateral myeloneuropathy. J Neurol Sci. 1994 Dec 1;127(1):11–28. doi: 10.1016/0022-510x(94)90130-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sadun A. A., Martone J. F., Muci-Mendoza R., Reyes L., DuBois L., Silva J. C., Roman G., Caballero B. Epidemic optic neuropathy in Cuba. Eye findings. Arch Ophthalmol. 1994 May;112(5):691–699. doi: 10.1001/archopht.1994.01090170139037. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]