Current status of chronic filariasis in Huai'an City

Abstract

To understand the current status of chronic filariasis patients in Huai'an City, so as to provide insights into the future care of chronic filariasis patients. According to the data pertaining to the historically registered chronic filariasis patients in Huai 'an City, each case was followed up and the baseline data of chronic filariasis patients were captured using questionnaire survey. The demographic and clinical features of the patients, and the distribution and coverage of the care sites were analyzed. There were still 616 chronic filariasis patients in Huai'an City, including 229 men (37.2%) and 387 women (62.8%), and 93.2% were aged 60 years and older. The chronic filariasis patients were found across the 8 counties (districts) across the city, and the cases were predominantly detected in Lianshui (40.3%), Huaiyin (30.8%) and Yuyi (8.0%). There were 49.0% of the patients with lymphedema or elephantiasis alone, 10.2% with chyluria alone, 1.0% with hydrocele of tunica vaginalis alone, 2.4% with lymphatic inflammation or lymphadenitis alone, and 37.3% with two or more types of symptoms, respectively, and all cases with lymphedema or elephantiasis alone had the sites of edema in the lower limbs, with over 90% at stages I to III. Currently, there are 81 care sites in the city covering 567 patients. The mean number of care activities was 3.2 times in 2018, and the mean cumulative duration of caring activities was 18.4 years in the care sites. Although the number of chronic filariasis patients has remarkably decreased, the number remains high in Jiangsu Province, and the cases are characterized by high age and long course of disease. Further caring activities are required to improve the quality of life in chronic filariasis patients.