Relationship between onchocerciasis and epilepsy: a matched case-control study in the Mbam Valley, Republic of Cameroon

Abstract

Studies conducted during the past 10 years to investigate the possible relationship between onchocerciasis and epilepsy have led to contradictory results. In 1991–1992 and 2001 we investigated 14 villages in central Cameroon to evaluate the relationship, at the community level, between the prevalence of epilepsy and the endemicity level of onchocerciasis. A case-control study compared the microfilarial loads of 72 epileptic and 72 non-epileptic individuals, matched according to sex, age, and village of residence. The prevalence of epilepsy and the community microfilarial load (CMFL) were closely related ( P < 0 · 02), and the case-control study demonstrated that the microfilarial loads (microfilariae per snip) in the epileptic group (arithmetic mean = 288, median = 216) were significantly higher ( P < 10 −4) than in the control group (arithmetic mean =141, median = 63). These results strongly support the existence of a link between onchocerciasis and epilepsy. The fact that such a relationship has not been found recently in some other West and Central African areas is probably due to the lowered endemicity of onchocerciasis following vector- and ivermectin-related control measures applied over the past 5–25 years. The socio-economic and demographic impact of onchocerciasis-related epilepsy should be evaluated, and taken into account as part of all onchocerciasis control programmes.