filariasis guidelines

Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a significant public health issue in India. Despite 10-15 rounds of mass drug administration (MDA) in India, the global LF elimination target of 2030 appears challenging. To strengthen the program, community and provider perspectives on ways to bridge a gap in MDA are needed. Through the motivation-opportunity-ability-behaviour (MOAB) lens, we systematically reviewed the facilitators and barriers encountered in LF elimination in India. We followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis guidelines...

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE: Filariasis, predominantly caused by the parasite Wuchereria Bancrofti, is a key etiological factor in lymphedema development. Lymphedema, characterized by persistent lymphatic obstruction, leads to significant changes in immunological factors and protein composition. These alterations play a crucial role in the delayed diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma within chronic lymphedema contexts. Notably, chronic lymphedema is an infrequent but significant precursor to squamous cell carcinoma, with fewer than 20 cases reported in medical literature, including only 11 cases affecting the lower limbs...

BACKGROUND: People with leprosy and lymphatic filariasis (LF)-related disabilities experience higher levels of poor mental well-being compared with the general community. Mental health services are often not available. This study was conducted to provide proof of concept that basic psychological support for people affected by neglected tropical diseases (BPS-N) can be given by peer supporters to reduce stigma, improve mental well-being and participation among clients. METHODS: The BPS-N approach was tested in a quasi-experimental design using mixed methods...

The World Health Organization has started a process to issue guidelines for the control of strongyloidiasis. The guidelines might recommend to implement preventive chemotherapy (PC) at community level (i.e. to all individuals above 5 years of age), over a defined prevalence threshold. We previously estimated the number of school-age children (SAC) who would need PC. Here we estimate the number of people above 15 years of age who might be included in PC for strongyloidiasis. Based on previous Strongyloides prevalence estimates and on countries' age distribution, we retrieved the number of adults in need of PC...

In its 'Road map for neglected tropical diseases 2021-2030', the World Health Organization outlined its targets for control and elimination of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and research needed to achieve them. For many NTDs, this includes research for new treatment options for case management and/or preventive chemotherapy. Our review of small-molecule anti-infective drugs recently approved by a stringent regulatory authority (SRA) or in at least Phase 2 clinical development for regulatory approval showed that this pipeline cannot deliver all new treatments needed...

BACKGROUND: Zambia is among the countries making major progress in limiting cases of the neglected tropical disease lymphatic filariasis on the path to reaching global elimination targets. For this trend to continue, it is essential for strategies and policies targeting the disease in Zambia to be based on the most recent and relevant literature. The scope of research on lymphatic filariasis in the Zambian context is currently poorly understood. Therefore, this study describes a scoping review protocol which will be used to analyze the body of literature on lymphatic filariasis in Zambia...

BACKGROUND: Triple drug regimen (IDA; Ivermectin, Diethylcarbamazine, Albendazole) recommended for accelerating elimination of lymphatic filariasis was launched in India in December 2018. Nagpur district in Maharashtra was one of the first five districts where this strategy was introduced. The National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) at the district reported ~85.0% treatment coverage in the first round of mass drug administration (MDA) with IDA implemented in EU-2 in Nagpur district in January 2019...

BACKGROUND: Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) is a neglected tropical disease presenting mainly as lymphoedema (elephantiasis). LF is not effectively treated. Integrative Medicine treatment (IM) for lymphoedema uses a combination of Indian traditional medicine, ayurveda, alongside yoga exercises, compression therapy, antibiotics and antifungals, providing a useful combination where resources are limited and different practices are in use. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of the IM in the existing clinical practice of lower limb lymphoedema management and to determine whether the treatment outcomes aligned with the WHO's global goal of LF...

Current WHO guidelines set prevalence thresholds below which a neglected tropical disease can be considered to have been eliminated as a public health problem, and specify how surveys to assess whether elimination has been achieved should be designed and analysed, based on classical survey sampling methods. In this paper, we describe an alternative approach based on geospatial statistical modelling. We first show the gains in efficiency that can be obtained by exploiting any spatial correlation in the underlying prevalence...

Repeated distribution of preventative chemotherapy (PC) by mass drug administration forms the mainstay of transmission control for five of the 20 recognised neglected tropical diseases (NTDs); soil-transmitted helminths, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis and trachoma. The efficiency of such programmes is reliant upon participants swallowing the offered treatment consistently at each round. This is measured by compliance, defined as the proportion of eligible participants swallowing treatment...

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) guidelines recommend control of soil transmitted helminth (STH)-associated morbidity with targeted deworming of preschool and school-aged children who are disproportionately affected by STH-associated morbidity. However, this strategy leaves many adults untreated and reinfection within communities perpetuates transmission even when mass drug administration (MDA) coverage of children is high. Evidence suggests that it may be possible to interrupt STH transmission by expanding MDA to a community-wide MDA (cMDA)...

BACKGROUND & RATIONALE: Burkina Faso has been implementing preventive chemotherapy against lymphatic filariasis since 2001. While 61 health districts (HDs) have stopped mass drug administration (MDA), transmission persists in 9 HDs despite good reported MDA coverage. To validate the reported coverage, an independent post-MDA survey was conducted in Tenkodogo and Fada N'Gourma HDs in September 2018. MATERIALS & METHODS: The study population consisted of all persons in the visited communities...

These guidelines discuss the epidemiology, screening, diagnosis, posttransplant prophylaxis, monitoring, and management of endemic infections in solid organ transplant (SOT) candidates, recipients, and donors in South Asia. The guidelines also provide recommendations for SOT recipients traveling to this region. These guidelines are based on literature review and expert opinion by transplant physicians, surgeons, and infectious diseases specialists, mostly from South Asian countries (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) as well as transplant experts from other countries...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Although, the number of considerable cases of dengue and lymphatic filariasis have been reported from Galle District, Sri Lanka in the past several years, contribution of abandoned boats to spread vector mosquitoes of Aedes and Culex in the coast is not well studied. Our aim was to assess the positive composition of different types of abandoned boats by larval vector mosquitoes to investigate their occurrence and habitat preference, and the monsoonal and co-existence variation of Aedes mosquitoes...

BACKGROUND: The Transmission Assessment Survey (TAS) is a decision-making tool to determine when transmission of lymphatic filariasis is presumed to have reached a level low enough that it cannot be sustained even in the absence of mass drug administration. The survey is applied over geographic areas, called evaluation units (EUs); existing World Health Organization guidelines limit EU size to a population of no more than 2 million people. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In 2015, TASs were conducted in 14 small EUs in Haiti...

INTRODUCTION: Neglected tropical diseases tend to cluster in the same poor populations and, to make progress with their control, they will have to be dealt with in an integrated manner. Peptide microarrays may be a solution to these problems, where diagnosis for co-infection can be detected simultaneously using the one tool. A meta-analysis using hierarchical models will be performed to assess the diagnostic accuracy of peptide microarrays for detecting schistosomiasis ( Schistosoma mansoni and S...

Background: Podoconiosis and lymphatic filariasis are the most common causes of lower limb lymphoedema in the tropics. Many sufferers experience frequent painful episodes of acute bacterial infection. Plant based traditional medicines are used to treat infections in many countries and are culturally established in Ethiopia. Ethiopian medicinal plants found to have antibacterial and antifungal activities were reviewed with the aim of increasing information about the treatment of wound infections in patients with lymphoedema...

BACKGROUND: Complex emergencies resulting from conflict and political instability are a major challenge for national neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) control and elimination programmes, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, there are no formal guidelines for national programmes to use and plan activities in these humanitarian situations, therefore the aim of this study was to develop a new methodological approach for making decisions about the implementation of safe and effective mapping and mass drug administration (MDA) intervention strategies...

In Burkina Faso, onchocerciasis was no longer a public health problem when the WHO Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa closed at the end in 2002. However, epidemiological surveillance carried out from November 2010 to February of 2011, showed a recrudescence of infection in the Cascades Region. This finding was made at a time when ivermectin, a drug recommended for the treatment of both onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis, had been distributed in this area since 2004 for the elimination of lymphatic filariasis...

BACKGROUND: Hydrocele is a chronic condition in males in which there is an excessive collection of straw-colored fluid, which leads to enlargement of the scrotum. It is a common manifestation of lymphatic filariasis (LF) affecting nearly 25 million men worldwide. Surgery is the recommended treatment for hydrocele and is available free of cost in all government hospitals in Nepal. This research explored patient, provider, and community factors related to accessing hydrocele surgery services by the patients...