TRACHOMA 265 lence (7.4 per 100), and, between the Kshatri and Vaishya caste, four-fifths (79.9%) of the trachoma, or 724,627 cases, are accounted for. The Brahmin and Shudra castes have prevalence rates of 4.1 and 4.2 per 1,000, respectively, and account for only one-fifth (19.6%) of the trachoma. Thus, the trachoma is not concentrated in the Shudra caste, but it does seem to be associated with the middle Kshatri and· Vaishya castes. This is both because these middle castes have more people than the Brahmin or Shudra castes and be- cause the prevalence rates are somewhat higher. It cannot be determined from the general survey findings whether these differences in prevalence rates are due to cultural practices, living .conditions, or a combination of the two. TABLE 7-15. DISTRIBUTION OF TRACHOMA BY CASTE (NBS 1981) Estimated Population with Trachoma Estimated Prevalence per 100 Percentage of All Trachoma in Nepal Sample N Caste Brahmin Kshatri Vaishya Shudra Other Subtotal Missing caste or trachoma status 6,725 6,817 19,489 5,354 915 39,300 97,022 180,740 543,887 80,674 4,690 907,013 4.1 7.4 7.9 *)! 1.4 6.5 10.7% 19.9 60.0 8.9 .5 100.0 587 2,821 Total 59,887 909,834 6.5 100.0 Source: FR7.006.2.l AN.3 Religion was also a self-reported item, and nearly all persons reported their religion as Hindu. Because of this skewed distribu- tion, an examination by religious group is expected to show that nearly all of the trachoma occurs among Hindus. Table 7-16 shows that 94.3 percent, or 858,044 cases, of trachoma occurs among Hindus and shows that the prevalence rate for Hindus of 6.6 per 100 is higher than that for Buddhists (6.1 per 100) and Moslems or other religions (1.6 per 100). The low prevalence rate for Moslems and others may be due to the distribution of Moslems in the population; they tend to be concentrated in the East Terai where prevalence rates for trachoma are known to be low. These findings generally support a view that religious practices are not associated with trachoma prevalence.
