Abstract
Objective. This study sought to add to the body of information on the prevalence and pattern of vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) among school aged children in Cross River State, Nigeria.Method. A cross-sectional survey of children in public primary schools in Cross River State, Nigeria, was studied for VKC. Five schools were included, using a multistage sampling technique. Comprehensive eye examinations were conducted in one thousand two hundred and twenty-six (1226) school children.Main Outcome Measures/Results. The mean age of the population of 1226 school attending children was9.62±2.324. The prevalence of VKC was 18.1% in this population study. The ratio of males to females is 1.8 : 1. The clinical grading of the 223 children with VKC is as follows: 43 (19.3%) quiescent, 134 (60.1%) mild, 44 (19.7%) moderate, and 2 (0.9%) severe VKC. The clinical types reported are as follows: limbal 67 (30.0%), tarsal 105 (47.1%), and mixed 51 (22.9%). The clinical types were used to describe a modified nomenclature.Conclusions. Vernal keratoconjunctivitis is a commonly occurring chronic condition and an important public health problem. A simple diagnostic nomenclature for describing VKC for primary health care workers is recommended.
Highlights
Vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) is an important public health problem especially in the hot and dry regions in Africa [1, 2]
Rare in temperate regions VKC represents an important cause of hospital referral in many parts of Africa and Asia including Nigerian children [5,6,7]
A total of 1500 children were expected to be investigated in 5 public primary schools
Summary
Vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) is an important public health problem especially in the hot and dry regions in Africa [1, 2] It is a chronic allergic eye disease that occurs predominantly in children and is responsible for causing moderate-to-severe visual impairment in children. Tremendous progress has been made in combatting measles, vitamin A deficiency, and ophthalmia neonatorum in some lower and middle income countries in the last decades, so that these conditions are no longer regarded as leading causes of corneal blindness in this part of the world [1, 3, 4] Other conditions such as VKC are becoming a more important cause of corneal visual impairment and blindness [2]. The quality of life of afflicted children is affected because they are limited in doing their preferred activities, in the attempt to avoid worsening of their disease [11]
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