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A De Muynck

Publications and source records attributed to A De Muynck.

45 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
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[Childhood malaria in Kinshasa (Zaire). Influence of seasons, age, environment, and family social conditions].

Frequency of malaria in children was evaluated from march 1986 to February 1987 in six districts of Kinshasa by paludometric survey with multiple visits. The six districts were selected according to their geographical situation and their degree of urbanisation. Each month, two stocks of children from 0 to 10 years old dwelling in a street were selected district and visited twice randomization in each selected district and visited twice at 2 weeks of interval. 5,541 children were examined at the occasion of the second visit. Influence of seasons, age, district, socio-economic level of the family and level of education of the parents was determined by analysing the following parameters: plasmodial index, parasitic density, incidence of fever attacks, conversion rate of thick smear, antimalaria drug consumption. Parasitic prevalence is 50 p.c. annual incidence of fever attacks is 50 p.c. and annual frequency of antimalaria drugs is 3,64 per child. Dry seasons (June-September and January-February) ease the pathophoresis and pathogenicity of plasmodia. The age group of less than one year is relatively less parasitized but from 2 years, contact with parasites is very high and without any significant evolution up to 10 years. The district where a child is living plays a predominant role on paludometric indices. Transmission is deeply influenced by geographical situation in the center of the town or in outlying districts and by the socio-economic environment (basic equipment, streets conditions, quality of accommodation). The socio-economic level of the child's family is also important in regard to malaria prevention. The level of education of the parents and mainly the mother has the greatest influence.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Epidemiologic study of inguinal hernia in Kauta, Kasonogo zone, Zaire].

In the male population of Kauta, suburb of Kasongo city, Zaïre, a survey has been carried out to detect the magnitude of the inguinal hernia problem, the risk factors of the herniae and of their main complication: the strangulation of the hernia. Among the 364 people examined, 86 (= 24%) resulted positive to inguinal hernia and/or postoperative scars. The age of onset was determined from prevalence data. Age is a risk factor of the incidence of the herniae. The right inguinal canal has a higher risk for developing a hernia and for strangulation of that hernia than the left one. Tribe and labour characteristics were not associated with hernial occurrence. 80% of the patients declared that in the previous 12 months they had suffered from one or more episodes of hernial strangulation and that those episodes were successfully treated by indigenous techniques. This absolutely surprising figure needs to be verified and merits further study.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy: methods for identifying groups at risk and/or risk behaviors].

Chagas' disease is still in 1992 a true problem of Public Health in several countries of South America. Almost 1/3 of the infested patients will develop a heart complications particularly lethal: the Chagas' chronic cardiopathy. The existing drugs do not cope with this Public Health problem. Such a lack of therapy enlarged because of the success of vectors control, has based the main strategies for the years to come, i.e. eradication of the insects of Triatoma. infestans group. So, there is a great risk to look upon the patients already infested and threatened with acute heart complication. Many factors have an influence on the occurrence of such a complication. Therefore, identification of groups or behaviours at risk should lead to an adapted strategy to take care of the patients already infested by Trypanosoma Cruzi. The authors propose a methodology which taking into consideration all "may be risk factors", eases a graded conceptual model. This model will be certainly useful in identifying some pertinent parameters, in elaborating or accepting some data collection technology, in data analysis, as well as in setting up some operational research projects.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Risk factors for human African trypanosomiasis in the endemic foci of Ivory Coast].

A case-control study on risk factors of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense human african trypanosomiasis was carried out in 111 patients diagnosed in the three main foci of Ivory coast. Each case was age and sex matched with one seronegative control living in the same locality. Based upon previous epidemiological surveys conducted in similar areas, the potential risk factors were identified and assessed using a standard questionnaire. The study demonstrates that in the forest area of Ivory coast human trypanosomiasis in a behavioral disease affecting mainly coffee and cocoa farmers. The allogenous populations coming from sudano-sahelian savannah are more exposed to the disease than other ethnic groups. People sleeping at the farm (encampments) are more likely to become infected than those living at the village (ODDS-Ratio = 4.5). People fetching water in natural holes and pools have an increased risk (ODDS-Ratio = 3.6). Cases reported more often than controls that they are foodstuffs dealers from the farms to the villages (ODDS-Ratio = 13.0). These results are consistent with data from previous studies. We identified preventable risk factors, upon which interventions should be carried out to reduce the incidence of the disease. The possibility of using these findings to improve sleeping sickness control programme in the forest areas of Ivory Coast is discussed.

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Historical aspects of the risk factors of Schistosoma intercalatum schistosomiasis].

Bilharziosis is a considerable public health problem. It is caused by many species of schistosoma, four of which have wide geographical distribution: Schistosoma mansoni, S. haematobium, S. japonicum and S. intercalatum. The recently discovered S. intercalatum is limited to central and west Africa. Its spread is progressive and its pathogenicity is not completely known. S. intercalatum bilharziosis is usually manifested in the form of dysentery. The physiopathologic explanation of this clinical manifestation is less clear. Immunopathologically, the formation of an inflammatory granuloma constitutes the origin of its symptoms. This is due to many biological factors including delayed hypersensitivity reactions. All cellular immunity changes will facilitate the appearance of symptoms. Our aim has been to show the importance of malnutrition as a pathogenic factor of S. intercalatum bilharziosis. The initial research hypothesis was as follows: malnutrition plays a role in the evolution of a patient from an asymptomatic state of infection to a symptomatic state of illness. We carried out the study in the suburbs of Bata, in Equatorial Guinea. The inhabitants of Ncolombong, essentially rural immigrants, comprised our study population. Following their consent, we recruited individuals less than 45 years of age who had not taken praziquantel during the last 12 months. We included a total of 297 patients. Our study was a case-control, matching on sex and age. A case was defined as an infected patient with acute or chronic diarrhea occurring within the last month' preceding the stool sample analysis. All cases were retained after exhaustive screening of the study population. Each case (group 1) was matched with one or several asymptomatic infected patients (group 2) and two or several asymptomatic noninfected patients chosen at random (group 3). The definition of malnutrition was as follows: weight/height < or = 90% for children less than 15 years of age or weight/height < or = 90% with a corporal mass index < or = 20 for children more than 15 years of age. Two logistical regression models were performed in order to distinguish pathogenic from infection factors. Among the confusion bias identified, none of the helminthiasis in Bata are risk factors. The risk factors of the infection have been searched with an interrogatory. The bias caused by the interviewer is minimized because all the team staff were trained for a week before the beginning of the study. Apart from malnutrition, the other causes of cellular immunodeficiency do not seem to have any relationship with the development of symptoms. The logistical model of infection identified the classical risk factors of infection: river leisures (OR = 3.97, CI 95%: 1.86-8.47), poor or average quality of walls of the house (OR = 2.53, CI 95%: 1.15-5.58), lack of water well (OR = 2.08, CI 95%: 1.08-4). Our study could not show any relationship between malnutrition and bilharziosis. The nutritional state does not play a significative role in the infection or development of the disease. Nevertheless, the nutritional state of the host probably influences other host or parasite factors. As a result, we still don't know its influence on ADCC (Antibody Dependent Cellular Mediated Cytotoxicity) mechanisms, on adult parasite adaptation and the efficiency of laying of eggs which affects the parasitological charge. We haven't found any relationship between parasitological load and appearance of symptoms. The parasitological load indirectly reflects the efficiency of the laying and nothing proves that it is correlated with the intensity of delayed type hypersensibility reactions. In the logistical model of the disease, a stay of more than 2 months in an endemic area (OR = 0.14, CI 95%: 0.03-0.76) and a poor or average quality of walls of the house decreased the risk (OR = 0.31, CI 95%: 0.11-0.85). This result permits us to suppose that there is a tolerance to schistosomian antigens by cellular immunity

Acute Disease↗