Chronic papular onchodermatitis

'River blindness' is the main problem of onchocerciasis. Despite a high pre valence of onchocerciasis in endemic countries, cases of imported cutaneous or ocular onchocerciasis in France are rare. Case report, - We report the case of a chronic papular onchodermatitis with voluminous lymphadenopathy in a Cameroonian child, resolving with a treatm ent of ivermectin. Conclusion, - The main symptom of cutaneous onchocerciasis is pruritus, whi ch symptom may alert physicians when dealing with patients who come from en demic countries for onchocerciasis, Cutaneous aspects may vary depending on length of exposure to antigens and immune responses by the host against mi crofilariae. Nowadays, onchocerciasis is treated with a single dose of iver mectin, which is sufficient for eye and cutaneous symptoms. However, this t herapy is efficient only against microfilariae, and treaments have to be re peated many times to avoid relapses linked to persistence of adult worms. ( C) 2001 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.