Infections and Epilepsy

This was a case-comparison study nested in cross-sectional survey of people with active convulsive epilepsy, with cases as those exposed to parasitic infections, and comparison as those unexposed. People with epilepsy were identified from a 3-stage community cross-sectional surveys carried out between 2008 and 2011. Screening for history of convulsions was conducted in stage I, followed by administration of a detailed questionnaire to describe seizures in stage II, and a neurological assessment by a clinician to diagnose epilepsy in stage III. Community members diagnosed with epilepsy were tested for antibodies to HIV and infectious parasites (Toxacara canis, Onchocerca volvulus, Plasmodium falciparum, Toxoplasma gondii, and Taenia solium) and formed the sample for this case-comparison study. The exposure was was any of the listed infections and the outcomes were the presenting features of epilepsy.