XXXX in Somalia: prevalence of markers of infection and disease manifestations in a village in an endemic area.

@entity1 @entity311 @entity234 @entity381
Prevalence and disease manifestations of @entity234 ( @entity234 ) were studied in a Somali village in an area which has long been known to be endemic for @entity234 . Demographic data were collected from 102 households, comprising 438 inhabitants. Clinical examination was performed of 306 individuals, 72% of the 426 eligible @entity1 . Of these, 276 (90%) agreed to give blood and 246 (80%) to be skin tested with leishmanin. Leishmanin reactions were positive; in 26% anti-Leishmania antibodies were detected in 11%, and @entity381 was recorded in 14% (23% of those who were seropositive). @entity311 was hypoendemic and therefore unlikely to be responsible for more than 10% of the cases with @entity381 . Three of the seropositive villagers with @entity381 complained of feeling ill. The remaining 91 sero- and/or leishmanin-positive individuals had no complaint regarding their health and had not experienced any long period of illness. There was a slight over-representation of males in the group of sero- and/or leishmanin-positive villagers, possibly due to a gender-associated difference in exposure to the parasite. Among the @entity1 with clinical @entity234 treated at Mogadishu hospitals during 1989 and 1990, the male/female ratio was 3.3:1, which may indicate a selection of male @entity1 for hospital care. Most @entity1 were < or = 15 years old, suggesting that the highest risk of becoming clinically ill was among @entity1 .
