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Volume 348:1179-1181 March 20, 2003 Number 12
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Mass Treatment of Filariasis in New Guinea

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by Ottesen, E. A.
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by Bockarie, M. J.
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To the Editor: Bockarie et al. (Dec. 5 issue)1 provide encouraging new evidence that mass treatment with antifilarial drugs can interrupt transmission of Wuchereria bancrofti. However, their conclusion that this strategy can eliminate filarial lymphedema may be overly optimistic. Bockarie et al. credit mass treatment with an impressive 69 percent cure rate among a subgroup of persons who entered the study with lymphedema. However, the overall prevalence of lymphedema decreased only from 5 percent to 4 percent, suggesting that the incidence of new-onset lymphedema, presumably also filarial in origin, was substantial. Furthermore, this reduction in prevalence just reached statistical . . . [Full Text of this Article]



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