Prevalence of trachoma and associated factors in the rural area of the department of Vaupés, Colombia.

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the study were to estimate the prevalence of different clinical signs of trachoma and identify possible factors associated with TF.

METHODOLOGY: Following the approval of the study protocol by the ethics committee, a cross-sectional study was conducted in Vaupés, a department of the Colombian Amazon, between the years 2012 and 2013 in two districts. Based on the records obtained from a standardized format for the clinical evaluation of the participants and the factors associated with follicular trachoma, an excel database was built and debugged, which was analyzed using IBM SPSS, Statistics Version 23 and Stata STATA (Version 14, 2015, StataCorp LLC, Texas, USA).

RESULTS

The records of 13,091 individuals was collected from 216 rural indigenous communities, of which 12,080 were examined (92.3%); 7,274 in the Western and 4,806 in the Eastern districts. A prevalence of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) of 21.7% (n = 599; 95% CI 20.2-23.3) in the Western and 24.9% (n = 483; 95% CI 23.1-26.9) in the Eastern district was found in children aged 1 to 9 years. Regarding trachomatous trichiasis (TT), 77 cases were found, of which 14 belonged to the Western district (prevalence 0.3%, CI 95% 0.2-0.5) and 63 to the Eastern district (1.8%, CI 95% 1.4-2.4). Children aged between 1 to 9 years were significantly more likely to have TF when there was the presence of secretions on the face (OR: 3.2; 95% CI: 2.6-3.9).

CONCLUSIONS

Trachoma is a public health problem in Vaupés that requires the implementation of the SAFE strategy (S = Surgery, A = Antibiotics, F = Face Washing, E = Environment) in the Eastern and Western districts, for at least 3 consecutive years, in accordance with WHO recommendations.