Trachoma nearly eliminated from country: AIIMS doctor

Trachoma, a leading cause of infectious blindness in the country, is almost eliminated, according to a latest national survey.
"The latest survey conducted in several hyper endemic states in northern India shows that the disease is almost eliminated," AIIMS' Dr R P Centre head of ophthalmology Prof Praveen Vashist said here today.
He said the national trachoma survey conducted in the previously hyper-endemic states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Western UP and Delhi recently indicated that the prevalence has gone down.
According to recent estimates, trachoma is endemic in 57 countries of the world and India is one of the five countries accounting for nearly half of the global burden of active trachoma.

The survey which was also conducted in Assam's Guwahati and in Meghalaya capital Shillong also revealed very low infections, Prof Vashist said.
While there were seven cases detected in six out of ten clusters in Guwahati, the prevalence in Shillong was lesser with only five cases detected from four clusters, he said.

According to the experts, the disease is caused by a housefly and most common in slums and areas mostly inhabited by the under privileged sections of the society.
Although active trachoma is most prevalent in children, the scarring doesn't usually become visible until the early 20s.
For those who have suffered since childhood, trichiasis normally sets in during their 40s - or even earlier in the worst-affected areas, experts said.

Prof Vashist said AIIMS' R P Centre will also be conducting a comprehensive blindness survey in selected 30 districts in the country beginning early next month.
The pilot project will take off from Delhi and the survey which will cover at least 2,500 persons in each district, will take two years to complete, he said.