Cardiac dysrhythmias with quinolones

An epidemiological study of filariasis in three villages along the coast at Matara has shown a prevalence of microfilaraemia of 4.4% and a geometric mean microfilaraemia density of 20.6 microfilariae/60ul of fingerprick blood. These are higher than previous values for the area. Prevalence is lower in females compared to males, and also in males under 20 years compared to the older males. Clinical manifestations attributed to filariasis such as fever, elephantiasis and hydrocele were found in 9.5% of the people. Prevalence of elephantiasis was more common in females (4.2%) compared to males (1.4%). Aggregation of cases in households was seen for fever and elephantiasis. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 2001; 95: 263-73. These results indicate that the disease is spreading and that filariasis is a greater public health problem than previously recognised.