Geostatistical modelling enables efficient safety assessment for mass drug administration with ivermectin in Loa loa endemic areas through a combined antibody and LoaScope testing strategy for elimination of onchocerciasis
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Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The elimination of onchocerciasis through community-based Mass Drug Administration (MDA) of ivermectin (Mectizan) is hampered by co-endemicity of Loa loa, as individuals who are highly co-infected with Loa loa parasites can suffer serious and occasionally fatal neurological reactions from the drug. The test-and-not-treat strategy of testing all individuals participating in MDA has some operational constraints including the cost and limited availability of LoaScope diagnostic tools. As a result, a Loa loa Antibody (Ab) Rapid Test was developed to offer a complementary way of determining the prevalence of loiasis. We develop a joint geostatistical modelling framework for the analysis of Ab and Loascope data to delineate whether an area is safe for MDA. Our results support the use of a two-stage strategy, in which Ab testing is used to identify areas that, with acceptably high probability, are safe or unsafe for MDA, followed by Loascope testing in areas whose safety status is uncertain. This work therefore contributes to the global effort towards the elimination of onchocerciasis as a public health problem by potentially reducing the time and cost required to establish whether an area is safe for MDA
Date Issued
2022-02-01
Date Acceptance
2022-01-21
Citation
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2022, 16 (2)
ISSN
1935-2727
Publisher
Public Library of Science
Journal / Book Title
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Volume
16
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
© 2022 Johnson et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
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https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000753388400001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Infectious Diseases
Parasitology
Tropical Medicine
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ARTN e0010189