Potential Cause of Nodding Syndrome Identified

• Published in: JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association Vol. 317; no. 15; p. 1517
• Main Author: Friedrich, M.J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Medical Association 18-04-2017
• Subjects: Aquatic insects; Children & youth; Convulsions & seizures; Epilepsy; Parasites; Pathogenesis; Tanzania
• ISSN: 0098-7484; 1538-3598
• DOI: 10.1001/jama.2017.3089

Nodding syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy that has affected thousands of children between the ages of 5 and 15 years in East Africa, may be caused by an inappropriate immune reaction to the parasitic worm, Onchocerca volvulus, that causes onchocerciasis (river blindness), according to a report published in Science Translational Medicine. First documented in Tanzania in the 1960s, nodding syndrome has remained an untreatable disease characterized by seizures, neurological deterioration, and a high rate of death. Although the cause of nodding syndrome has been elusive, an increase in the condition in areas where the parasite O volvulus is endemic suggests that infection with the worm plays a role in disease pathogenesis.