Prevalence of trachoma trichiasis and corneal opacity in the Shaanxi Province of China

Abstract:

AIM: To assess the current situation of trachoma in Shaanxi Province and analyze its epidemiology and clinical features.

METHODS: The World Health Organization(WHO)simplified trachoma grading system was used for the recognition and registration of cases of trachoma. Trachoma rapid assessment(TRA)was conducted and 30.3687 million people from Shaanxi province were screened. Eyelids, eyelashes, conjunctiva and cornea were examined. The prevalence of trachoma trichiasis(TT)in Shaanxi Province was estimated.

RESULTS: Totally 987 cases with TT were collected in Shaanxi province, in which 395 cases were male and 592 cases were female. The overall TT prevalence was 0.0325‰.The age of TT cases ranged from 25-86 years old, and concentrated in the 60-80 years old, only 58 cases were <50 years old. There were 12 cases of TT combined corneal opacity(CO)and the ratio was 1.2%. Sixty-four patients were cured by electrolysis trichiasis, the remaining 923 patients corrected by surgery interventions.

CONCLUSION: Based on the results of this study, trachoma blind is no longer estimated as a public health problem in Shaanxi province, as the detection rate of TT was less than 1‰ which is the goal of “elimination of trachoma” worldwide.

Key words:trachoma trichiasis; epidemiology; Shaanxi Province; corneal opacity