A cluster-randomised controlled trial comparing school and community-based deworming for soil transmitted helminth control in school-age children: the CoDe-STH trial protocol
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background Current guidelines and targets for soil-transmitted helminth (STH) control focus on school-based deworming for school-age children, given the high risk of associated morbidity in this age group. However, expanding deworming to all age groups may achieve improved STH control among both the community in general and school-age children, by reducing their risk of reinfection. This trial aims to compare school-based targeted deworming with community-wide mass deworming in terms of impact on STH infections among school-age children. Methods The CoDe-STH (Community Deworming against STH) trial is a cluster-randomised controlled trial (RCT) in 64 primary schools in Dak Lak province, Vietnam. The control arm will receive one round of school-based targeted deworming with albendazole, while in the intervention arm, community-wide mass deworming with albendazole will be implemented alongside school-based deworming. Prevalence of STH infections will be measured in school-age children at baseline and 12 months following deworming. The primary outcome is hookworm prevalence in school-age children at 12 months, by quantitative PCR. Analysis will be intention-to-treat, with outcomes compared between study arms using generalised linear and non-linear mixed models. Additionally, cost-effectiveness of mass and targeted deworming will be calculated and compared, and focus group discussions and interviews will be used to assess acceptability and feasibility of deworming approaches. Individual based stochastic models will be used to predict the impact of mass and targeted deworming strategies beyond the RCT timeframe to assess the likelihood of parasite population ‘bounce-back’ if deworming is ceased due to low STH prevalence. Discussion The first large-scale trial comparing mass and targeted deworming for STH control in South East Asia will provide key information for policy makers regarding the optimal design of STH control programs.
Date Issued
2019-09-18
Online Publication Date
2019-11-20T14:36:53Z
Date Acceptance
2019-09-10
ISSN
1471-2334
Publisher
BioMed Central
Start Page
1
End Page
10
Journal / Book Title
BMC Infectious Diseases
Volume
19
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s). 2019 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver
(http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver
(http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Sponsor
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Identifier
https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-019-4449-6
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000487083100012&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Grant Number
SON15004
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Infectious Diseases
Soil-transmitted helminths
Hookworm
Mass drug administration
Albendazole
SCHOOLCHILDREN
ANEMIA
IMPACT
COST
Albendazole
Hookworm
Mass drug administration
Soil-transmitted helminths
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Infectious Diseases
Soil-transmitted helminths
Hookworm
Mass drug administration
Albendazole
SCHOOLCHILDREN
ANEMIA
IMPACT
COST
0605 Microbiology
1103 Clinical Sciences
1108 Medical Microbiology
Microbiology
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ARTN 822
Date Publish Online
2019-09-18