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Epilepsies. Volume 22, Number 2, 116-9, avril-mai-juin 2010, Épilepsie et pathologies tropicales

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Author(s) : Pierre-Marie Preux, Benoît Marin, Michel Druet-Cabanac, Guy Farnarier

Summary : Onchocerciasis and epilepsy are important public health problems in tropical countries. This article presents the epidemiological basis of an eventual association between these two diseases and the hypotheses that might explain this relationship: presence of the parasite in the central nervous system, pathogenicity of various strains of Onchocerca volvulus, immunological mechanisms involving cross-reactive immunization or cytokine production during infection.

Keywords : epilepsy, onchocerciasis, epidemiology