Assessing the potentials of two local topical ointments as affordable treatment against tungiasis infestation: A self-experimentation in Igbokoda, Nigeria

Abstract

Infestations caused by penetration of Tunga penetrans (Siphonaptera: Hectopsyllidae) in cutaneous sub-layers present morbidities and resulting mortalities if surgical treatment remains the obtainable. Considering the neglected nature of this infestation and the absence of marketable product, we report an observation on the use of grounded naphthalene in kerosene ointment, and powder of Piper guineense in coconut oil ointment as affordable treatment of embedded tungiasis flea in Igbokoda. A total of 80 individuals partitioned into two groups of 40 individuals each were assigned the locally made topical ointment irrespective of stages of tungiasis lesions. The mean of stage I, II and III tungiasis lesions treated with grounded naphthalene in kerosene ointment respectively decreased from 1.83, 3.42 and 3.89 to 0 after 5–6 days ( p < .05). Also, the mean of stage I, II and III tungiasis lesions treated with grounded P. guineense ointment respectively decreased from 1.52, 3.10 and 5.00 to 0 after 6 to 7 days of treatment exposure ( p < .05). Very high significant difference between stages and exposure days of participants assigned the two topical ointment was recorded p < .0001 and p = .0005 respectively. Naphthalene ointment and to a lesser extent P. guineense ointment is best to control and hinder development cycle of embedded fleas irrespective of infested part and stage of infection.

Insecticidal effectiveness of naphthalene and its combination with kerosene against the emergence of Aedes aegypti in Ika North East, LGA, Delta State, Nigeria

“…We found a pattern of increased mortality and reduced adult emergence in the concentrations of naphthalene and its combination with kerosene, which is similar to that reported in their use on subterranean termites in laboratory conditions ( Ojianwuna et al, 2021a , Ojianwuna et al, 2021b ). Similar observation of high effectiveness was made in the study of Enwemiwe et al (2020) , where combination of kerosene and naphthalene was used in the treatment of flea lesions on the body of heavily, moderately and mildly infected persons in Igbokoda, Ondo State, Nigeria. This is the first study reporting the effectiveness of naphthalene and its combination on the activities of Aedes mosquitoes.…”

“…Naphthalene and kerosene are two locally available substance globally and are quite affordable substances. They have been tried on other insects with great successes ( Enwemiwe et al, 2020 ; Ojianwuna and Enwemiwe, 2021 ), hence their use for this study. Naphthalene is also a naturally occurring organic substance and kerosene is one vital mineral oil in Nigeria.…”

The efficacy of topical, oral and surgical interventions for the treatment of tungiasis: A systematic review of the literature

“…In one article, the authors used individual and environmental interventions, making it difficult to calculate the number of people who benefited. [ 16 ] Studies were performed in Argentina (number of articles (n) = 1),[ 19 ] Brazil (n = 6),[ 3 , 8 , 9 , 13 , 23 , 26 ] Colombia (n = 1),[ 5 ] Ethiopia (n = 1),[ 24 ] Haiti (n = 1),[ 16 ] Kenya (n = 2),[ 14 , 18 ] Madagascar (n = 2),[ 20 , 25 ] Nigeria (n = 2),[ 12 , 15 ] Tanzania (n = 1),[ 22 ] Trinidad and Tobago (n = 1)[ 21 ] and Uganda (n = 1). [ 17 ] Seventeen studies evaluated treatment in children, and only one evaluated an indigenous community.…”

“…According to our analysis, 2 articles had a low overall RoB according to the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool for Randomized Trials. [ 8 , 15 ] Three articles had some RoB: 1 because of a small deviation from the intended intervention,[ 9 ] 1 because of missing outcome data[ 17 ] and 1 because of the outcome measurement. [ 18 ] These five studies were considered to have satisfactory quality for each theme because the RoB tool used was considered very rigorous and aimed to cover all aspects of clinical trials.…”

“…Subsequently, we screened 114 full texts (11 were not retrieved) and finally included 19 articles. Nine articles reported the results of clinical trials for tungiasis treatments, [8,9,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18] and ten reported the results of observational studies (Fig 2). [3,5,10,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26].…”