Do I Have Onchocerciasis or river blindness?

Do I Have Onchocerciasis or river blindness? Dear Doctor, More grease to your elbows for the way you solve people's problems. Sir, I often experience (Narun-Yoruba) and as soon as I take Fulcin it will go only to reappear again. Although it has reduced to some extent through regular use of herbs. A friend-- a medical student says he suspects onchocerciasis. Sir, I believe your in your insightful and penetrating analyses and lasting medication to this. Hoping to read from you. Thank you. MMW, Ikere- Ekiti Dear MMW, Though I am Yoruba, I'm sorry I'm at a loss what Narun really means --though you seem to think it means Onchocerciasis; a chronic debilitating disease (caused by the germ Onchocerca volvulus and transmitted by the blackfly Similium damnosum found around some rivers in the rain-forest/savannah regions) that ends with river blindness and causes a skin condition that includes itching and nodule-formation-- rashes that make the skin look like that of a leopard. Onchocerciasis makes sufferers --usually farmers living in the rural areas near these black-fly laden rivers-- so very weak that they are useless economically and on the farm (before eventually making them blind) and has affected whole villages—wiping out the human population. A World Bank statement on the disease says, "River blindness (Onchocerciasis) is a common disease, in Africa. A parasitic worm that develops in the human body and causes serious skin disease is the cause.It not only engenders blindness but also disfigurement and unbearable itching in its victims. Since it is very discomforting, many farmers who are victims are normally rendered incapable to till large tracks of farmland. It is spread by the blackfly that breeds in fast-flowing rivers. It is estimated that between 10 and 30 percent of its victims consequently become blind. The disease primarily affects African rural communities in 19 African countries in central, eastern and western Africa, which include Angola, Burundi, Kenya, Cameroon,Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.These areas have nearly 100 million people who are at risk of contracting the disease. Of those, about 22 million are infected. Treatment, though available in those days when we were in medical school, took all of 180 days of swallowing drugs daily; non--stop. All of that is the bad news. The good news? Today, Ivermectin, developed by diligent researchers of Merck (Mectizan is a readily available brand) cures Onchocerciasis or river blindness--a single oral dose of ivermectin, taken annually for the 10- to 15-year lifespan of the adult Onchocerca Volvulus worms, is all that is needed to protect the individual from onchocerciasis. So you see, onchocerciasis has no business afflicting anyone any longer-- even if that's what you have. Do you really have Oncho? I do not know and cannot say--but if you visit a dermatologist he will be able to tell you and cure you after testing your skin and blood. You can find a dermatologist at Federal Medical Centres, Teaching and Specialist Hospitals and if you are lucky, a General hospital. Cheers