TRACHOMA 263 male cases). In general, the females have higher prevalence rates and more trachoma cases for each age group shown in Table 7-14 than do the males (see also Figure 7.2). TABLE 7-14. DISTRIBUTION OF TRACHOMA BY AGE AND SEX (NBS 1981) Estimated Population with Trachoma Estimated Prevalence per 100 Percentage of All Trachoma in Nepal Sample N Males 0-4 5-9 10-14 15-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+ 19,425 2,986 3,178 2,667 1,723 2,605 2,131 1,670 1,271 1,194 379,027 65,757 62,151 38,638 24,463 43,466 49,436 41,332 28,160 25,624 41.7% 8.0 9.6 5.8 4.5 8.1 7.3 6.3 3.7 5.0 5.5 6.4 5.9 4.1 3.8 4.3 6.2 6.7 6.2 6.1 Females 0-4 5-9 10-14 15-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+ Subtotal Missing age, sex, 20,183 2,962 3,141 2,299 1,743 3,211 2,390 1,945 1,259 1,233 39,608 530,395 72,641 87,456 52,899 40,362 73,982 65,939 57,678 33,707 45,731 909,422 7.4 7.1 8.3 6.4 6.4 6.1 7.6 8.4 7.8 10.9 6.5 58.3 7.2 6.8 4.3 2.7 4.8 5.5 4.5 3.1 2.8 100.0 - o r- trachoma status 279 412 Total 39,887 909,834 6.5 100.0 Source: FR7.002C REP.1 For males, trachoma prevalence rates range from 3.8 per 100 for males 15-19 years to 6.7 per 100 for males 40-49 years. For females, the rates range from 6.1 per 100 for females 20-29 years to 10.9 per 100 for females 60 years or older. For both sexes, the age-specific rates show a slight decrease from childhood to adolescent years, and a gradual increase with age after 20 years. Nonetheless, the ratio of the highest to the lowest age-specific prevalence rate for males or females does not reach a level of two to one. Interpretation of these findings is complicated by the changing nature of trachoma diagnosis with age. Cases among children are
