The Prevalence of Lymphatic Filariasis in Elementary School Children Living in Endemic Areas: A Baseline Survey Prior to Mass Drug Administration in Pekalongan District-Indonesia

Background: WHO initiated lymphatic filariasis (LF) elimination globally. Pekalongan District, as LF endemic area, started a program of mass drug administration (MDA) to combat LF in 2015. This study aimed to deter-mine prevalence of Wuchereria bancrofti infection prior to the MDA. Methods: LF infection was detected by the existence of circulating filarial antigen (CFA) W. bancrofti using im-munochromatographic card test (ICT). The study population consisted of 1404 elementary school (ES) stu-dents living in Pekalongan District. Overall, 1033 were selected as study subjects. Prevalence survey was also conducted on 436 general population in areas where infected students were found. Results: The subjects ranged from 7-17 yr old (mean 9.85±1.296) and equally distributed between both sexes. Prevalence of W. bancrofti infection was 1.98% in children. Infection was mostly found in older students (12 yr old), male, in 6th grade, but did not differ significantly (P=0.129, 0.376, and 0.212 respectively). On the other hand, distribution of infection was significantly different by school (P=0.009) and sub-district (P=0000). Most of children with LF infection were found in Tirto Sub District. In general population, the prevalence of W. bancrofti infection in Tirto was 4.4%. Proportion of infection in males (12.2%) was greater than females (3.8%), with 78.9% of positive cases were in adult over 20 yr old. Conclusion: Cases of W. bancrofti infection exist in Pekalongan District, both in children and adults. Implemen-tation of MDA must be carefully monitored in order to achieve elimination target.