Abstract
ObjectivesThe objectives of the study were to estimate the prevalence of different clinical signs of trachoma and identify possible factors associated with TF.MethodologyFollowing the approval of the study protocol by the ethics committee, a cross-sectional study was conducted in Vaupés, a department of the Colombian Amazon, between the years 2012 and 2013 in two districts.Based on the records obtained from a standardized format for the clinical evaluation of the participants and the factors associated with follicular trachoma, an excel database was built and debugged, which was analyzed using IBM SPSS, Statistics Version 23 and Stata STATA (Version 14, 2015, StataCorp LLC, Texas, USA).ResultsThe records of 13,091 individuals was collected from 216 rural indigenous communities, of which 12,080 were examined (92.3%); 7,274 in the Western and 4,806 in the Eastern districts. A prevalence of trachomatous inflammation–follicular (TF) of 21.7% (n = 599; 95% CI 20.2–23.3) in the Western and 24.9% (n = 483; 95% CI 23.1–26.9) in the Eastern district was found in children aged 1 to 9 years. Regarding trachomatous trichiasis (TT), 77 cases were found, of which 14 belonged to the Western district (prevalence 0.3%, CI 95% 0.2–0.5) and 63 to the Eastern district (1.8%, CI 95% 1.4–2.4). Children aged between 1 to 9 years were significantly more likely to have TF when there was the presence of secretions on the face (OR: 3.2; 95% CI: 2.6–3.9).ConclusionsTrachoma is a public health problem in Vaupés that requires the implementation of the SAFE strategy (S = Surgery, A = Antibiotics, F = Face Washing, E = Environment) in the Eastern and Western districts, for at least 3 consecutive years, in accordance with WHO recommendations.
Highlights
Trachoma is chronic keratoconjunctivitis, caused by repeated conjunctival infections with serotypes A, B, Ba and C of Chlamydia trachomatis [1]
The records of 13,091 individuals was collected from 216 rural indigenous communities, of which 12,080 were examined (92.3%); 7,274 in the Western and 4,806 in the Eastern districts
A prevalence of trachomatous inflammation–follicular (TF) of 21.7% (n = 599; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 20.2–23.3) in the Western and 24.9% (n = 483; 95% CI 23.1–26.9) in the Eastern district was found in children aged 1 to 9 years
Summary
Trachoma is chronic keratoconjunctivitis, caused by repeated conjunctival infections with serotypes A, B, Ba and C of Chlamydia trachomatis [1]. Two phases of the disease are recognized; an acute, self-limiting phase corresponding to the infectious period, and a chronic or advanced phase, generally occurring during adulthood, corresponding to the sequelae of multiple childhood infections. This chronic phase leads to scarring of the tarsal mucosa, entropion, trichiasis, corneal opacity and potential blindness [2]. Trachoma was first identified in the indigenous population of the Colombian Amazon region, in the department of Vaupes [3]. There have been no studies on the prevalence of trachoma conducted in this region
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