286 CHAPTER SEVEN TABLE 7--35. DISTRIBUTION OF HIGH-INTENSITY (H-1) TRACHOMA BY SELECTED ZONES FOR CHILDREN AGES 0-9 (NBS 1981) Estimated Population with H-I Trachoma Percentage of All H-I Trachoma in Nepal Estimated Prevalence per 100 Sample N Zone Mechi,.Koshi, and Sagarmatha Janakpur, Bagmati, and Narayani Gandaki, Lumbini, and Dhaulagiri Rapti and Karnali Bheri Seti Mahakeli Subtotal Missing trachoma intensity 2,327a 2.7% 2,959 0.2 3,573 6,370 0.5 7.3 2,129 719 1,027 539 751 11,697 759 7,465 2,406a 51,637 15,139 1,360a 86,704 1.1 1.0 15.8 8.8 0.5 2.2 8.6 2.8 59.6 17.5 1.6 100.0 Total 12,456 86,704 2.2 100.0 Source: FRANY.001 AN.11 REP.V3051.l aToo few cases to be reliable. slight increase in prevalence rates for persons ages 50 and over for both sexes. The somewhat larger share of high-intensity trachoma for females is accounted for by females ages 5 and older. For every age group after 0-4, the female prevalence rate exceeds the rate for males. A partial explanation for this phenomenon is that females, because of their close association with children, are routinely ex- posed to high- intensity and highly infectious trachoma and other infections. Table 7-37 shows the distribution of high-intensity trachoma for all persons by caste. The Vaishya caste has two-thirds (66.7%) of the high-intensity trachoma, although the prevalence rate for the Vaishya caste at 1.3 cases per 100 persons is only slightly higher than the overall national prevalence rate of 0.9 per 100 persons. Prevalence rates for the Brahmin and Shudra castes are lower than the overall national rate, but it cannot be determined whether this is a social phenomenon (e.g., Brahmin and Shudra castes follow health practices that protect them from trachoma), a geographic phenomenon (e.g., Vaishya caste tend to live in the Far West region), or some other phenomenon (e.g., Brahmin and Shudra
