Yaws resurgence in Bankim, Cameroon: The relative effectiveness of different means of detection in rural communities.
Boock AU, Awah PK, Mou F. et al. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2017; 11(5):e0005557.
Abstract The five interventions for detecting yaws had a synergistic effect and proved to be valuable components of a yaws eradication program. Well planned, culturally sensitive mass outreach educational programs accompanied by school-based programs proved to be particularly effective in Bankim. Including yaws detection in a Buruli Ulcer outreach program constituted a win-win situation, as the demonstration effect of yaws treatment (rapid cure) increased confidence in early Buruli ulcer treatment. Mass outreach programs functioned as magnets for both diseases as well as other kinds of chronic wounds that future outreach programs need to address.
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Associations between selective attention and soil-transmitted helminth infections, socioeconomic status, and physical fitness in disadvantaged children in Port Elizabeth, South Africa: An observational study.
Gall S, Müller I, Walter C, Seelig H. et al. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2017; 11(5):e0005573.
Abstract The present study examines how socioeconomic status (SES), parasitic worm infections, stunting, food insecurity, and physical fitness are associated with selective attention and academic achievement in school-aged children. Soil-transmitted helminth infections and low physical fitness appear to hamper children's capacity to pay attention and thereby impede their academic performance. Poor academic achievement will make it difficult for children to realize their full potential, perpetuating a vicious cycle of poverty and poor health.
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Improving drug delivery strategies for lymphatic filariasis elimination in urban areas in Ghana.
Biritwum N-K, Garshong B, Alomatu B et al. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2017; 11(5):e0005619.
Abstract The study was carried out in three phases: pre-intervention, intervention and post-intervention phases, to assess the profile of the urban areas and identify reasons for poor treatment coverage using both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The outcomes from the study revealed that, knowledge, attitudes and practices of community members to MDA improved slightly from the pre-intervention phase to the post-intervention phase, in the districts where the interventions were readily implemented by health workers. Many factors such as adequate leadership, funding, planning and community involvement, were identified as being important in improving implementation and coverage of MDA in the study districts. Implementing MDA in urban areas therefore needs to be given significant consideration and planning, if the required coverage rates are to be achieved. This paper, presents the recommendations and strategies for undertaking MDA in urban areas.
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Guidelines for use of narrative survey instruments to improve MDA for lymphatic filariasis elimination.
Krentel A, Lynam T. Reflecting Society. 2017. Report.
Abstract Literature examining reasons why recipients take drugs offered during mass drug administration (MDA) for the elimination of lymphatic filariasis (LF) suggests that few knowledge indicators explain recipients’ compliance with treatment.
These guidelines outline the use of a novel tool and approach in public health research that places an individual’s situated or contextualised experience at the core of the research. Instead of asking about knowledge, this survey instrument asks individuals to recount their most recent experience with MDA and then asks a series of questions about that narrative.
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A practical approach for scaling up the alternative strategy for the elimination of lymphatic filariasis in Loa loa endemic countries - developing an action plan.
Kelly-Hope LA, Stanton MC, Zouré HGM, et al. Glob Health Res Policy. 2017.
Abstract We reviewed relevant data available to WHO and in the literature for LF-L. loa endemic countries to develop a simple method to support the scale-up of MDA to eliminate LF. A basic model has been developed. The model includes five practical steps, which comprise the development of a national filarial database and a simple classification system to help determine the mapping status and most appropriate treatment strategy. Steps are colour-coded and linked to a general decision tree, which is also presented. This model is simple to follow and will help LF elimination programmes develop an action plan and scale up the implementation of alternative treatment strategies.
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Recognising the role of community-directed treatment and of women in the fight against NTDs.
Amazigo U, Crump A, Godal T. Lancet Glob Health. 2017.
No abstract.
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Infectious Diseases of Poverty, the first five years.
Wang W, Chen J, Sheng H-F, Wang N-N. et al. Infect Dis Poverty. 2017; 6(1):96.
Abstract Although the focus in the area of health research may be shifting from infectious to non-communicable diseases, the infectious diseases of poverty remain a major burden of disease of global health concern. A global platform to communicate and share the research on these diseases is needed to facilitate the translation of knowledge into effective approaches and tools for their elimination. Based on the "One health, One world" mission, a new, open-access journal, Infectious Diseases of Poverty (IDP), was launched by BioMed Central in partnership with the National Institute of Parasitic Diseases (NIPD), Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Integrating neglected tropical diseases into global health and development: Fourth WHO report on neglected tropical diseases. 2017. Report.
Abstract This fourth WHO report on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) reviews the progress made towards achieving the Roadmap targets for 2020, noting the remaining challenges, then looks beyond 2020 to evaluate the changing global health and development landscape, considering the implications of integrating these diseases into the broader 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
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Disease ecology, health and the environment: a framework to account for ecological and socio-economic drivers in the control of neglected tropical diseases.
Garchitorena A, Sokolow SH, Roche B. et al. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. 2017; 372(1722).
Abstract We present a simple modelling framework to illustrate the relative role of ecological and socio-economic drivers of environmentally transmitted parasites and pathogens. Through the analysis of system dynamics, we show that periodic drug treatments that lead to the elimination of directly transmitted diseases may fail to do so in the case of human pathogens with an environmental reservoir. Control of environmentally transmitted diseases can be more effective when human treatment is complemented with interventions targeting the environmental reservoir of the pathogen. We present mechanisms through which the environment can influence the dynamics of poverty via disease feedbacks.
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Modelling ecological and socioeconomic feedbacks of Buruli ulcer in sub-Saharan Africa: results from a field study in Cameroon.
Garchitorena A, Bonds MH, Ngonghala CN. et al. The Lancet. 2017; 389(Suppl 2).
Abstract We provide the first field evidence that the predominant transmission route from the aquatic ecosystem to human populations might be through direct inoculation of the bacteria into the skin in contaminated environments, contrary to the vector-borne transmission postulated in the past decade. Median force of infection in the set of model simulations that best fitted the data was more than 200 times higher for proxies of direct environmental transmission than for vector-borne transmission. Based on these results, we show theoretically that in contexts of high environmental risk, Buruli ulcer can cause economic inequalities at the population level, with disproportionate effects on the poorest socioeconomic groups due to disparities in vulnerability and health-care access.
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Mycetoma: A global medical and socio-economic dilemma.
Fahal AH. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2017; 11(4):0005509.
No abstract.
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The first "London Declaration": The Commonwealth and its neglected tropical diseases.
Hotez PJ, Damania A, Barua A. et al. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2017; 11(4):e0005321.
No abstract.
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Risk factors for podoconiosis: Kamwenge District, Western Uganda.
Musenero M, Nanyunja M, Lali WZ. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 2017.
Abstract Podoconiosis, a noninfectious elephantiasis, is a disabling neglected tropical disease. In August 2015, an elephantiasis case-cluster was reported in Kamwenge District, western Uganda. We investigated to identify the disease's nature and risk factors. We defined a suspected podoconiosis case with the following associated symptoms: skin itching, burning sensation, plantar edema, lymph ooze, prominent skin markings, rigid toes, or mossy papillomata. A probable case was a suspected case with negative microfilaria antigen immunochromatographic card test (ruling out filarial elephantiasis). We conducted active case-finding. In a case–control investigation, we tested the hypothesis that the disease was caused by prolonged foot skin exposure to irritant soils. In conclusion, this reported elephantiasis is podoconiosis associated with prolonged foot exposure to volcanic soil. We recommended foot hygiene and universal use of protective shoes.
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The global atlas of podoconiosis.
Deribe K, Cano J, Newport MJ, et al. Lancet Glob Health. 2017; 5(5): e477-e479.
Abstract The world stands on the edge of an historic public health success with the imminent eradication of dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease) and polio. In 2016, only 25 human cases of dracunculiasis were reported from three countries, transmission of wild poliovirus was found in only three countries, and 37 cases of polio were reported worldwide. In addition to these achievements, there has been progress in the elimination of the little-known disease podoconiosis (endemic non-filarial elephantiasis).
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Collaborating to develop joint water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and neglected tropical disease (NTD) sector monitoring: an expert consultation.
Waite RC, Woods G, Velleman Y, et al. Int Health. 2017. 1-11.
Abstract Taking forward outputs from global WASH and NTD Roundtables, we engaged experts in a consultative process of identifying measurable priority indicators for joint monitoring. Seven core measurable indicators emerged as priorities for inclusion in joint monitoring for the NTD sector. Our findings provide insight on the development and implementation of joint monitoring frameworks that can be integrated into existing programme level monitoring.
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Psychosocial impact of scars due to cutaneous leishmaniasis on high school students in Errachidia province, Morocco.
Bennis I, Thys S, Filali H, et al. Infect Dis Poverty. 2017; 6(1):46.
Abstract The outbreak of CL due to Leishmania major in the Errachidia province in southeastern Morocco between 2008 and 2010 left many adolescents with permanent scar tissue on the face or other exposed body parts. We studied the psychosocial impact of CL on these young people. Almost 20% reported they had experienced a CL lesion and 87% said it could possibly or definitely lead to psychological consequences. The indelible CL scars lead to self-stigma and social stigma, and the emergence of negative psychological effects in this age group.
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Engaging 'communities': anthropological insights from the West African Ebola epidemic.
Wilkinson A, Parker M, Martineau F, et al. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B, Biol. Sci. 2017; 372(1721):1-7.
Abstract This article reflects on the nature of community engagement during the Ebola epidemic and demonstrates a disjuncture between local realities and what is being imagined in post-Ebola reports about the lessons that need to be learned for the future. We argue that to achieve stated aims of building trust and strengthening outbreak response and health systems, public health institutions need to reorientate their conceptualization of 'the community' and develop ways of working which take complex social and political relationships into account.
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Community-directed mass drug administration is undermined by status seeking in friendship networks and inadequate trust in health advice networks.
Chami GF, Kontoleon AA, Bulte E, et al. Soc Sci Med. 2017.
Abstract In Mayuge District, Uganda, census-style surveys were conducted for 16,357 individuals from 3491 households in 17 villages. Praziquantel, albendazole, and ivermectin were administered for one month in community-directed MDA to treat Schistosoma mansoni, hookworm, and lymphatic filariasis. We investigated systematically missed coverage and noncompliance. CMDs were more likely to offer medicines, and to accurately administer the drugs as trained by the national control programme, to individuals with high friendship degree (many connections) and high friendship closeness centrality (households that were only a short number of steps away from all other households in the network).
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Challenges of soil- transmitted Helminthiasis in some communities in Ondo state, Nigeria.
Akinseye FJ, Egbebi AO, Fadareo S. Int. J. Adv. Res. Biol. Sci. 2017; 4(3):164-171.
Abstract This study aimed at investigating the burden of soil-transmitted helminthiasis in some selected rural communities in Ondo State Nigeria. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of human soil- transmitted helminthiasis. Out of the 928 samples collected from volunteers, 149 (16.05%) were infected. Among the risk factors, toilet and water resource facilities were the major sources of transmission. The result obtained justifies the current state of the poor hygiene level in relation to high occurrence rate of Soil-transmitted helminths among people living in the rural settings.
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How to determine if a model is right for neglected tropical disease decision making.
Bartsch SM, Lee BY. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2017; 11(4):e0005457.
Abstract Mathematical and computational modeling can transform decision making for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) if the right model is used for the right question. Modeling can help better understand and address the complex systems involved in making decisions for NTD prevention and control. However, all models, modelers, and modeling are not the same. Thus, decision makers need to better understand if a particular model actually fits their needs. Here are a series of questions that a decision maker can ask when determining whether a model is right for him or her.
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Neglected tropical diseases: A proxy for equitable development and shared prosperity.
Engels D. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2017; 11(4):e0005419.
No abstract
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PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases: Ten years of progress in neglected tropical disease control and elimination … More or less.
Aksoy S, Hotez P. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2017; 11(4):e0005355.
Abstract This year PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases (PLOS NTDs) celebrates its tenth anniversary following the publication of the first issue in 2007. In the decade since, PLOS NTDs has overseen enormous successes in NTD control and elimination. Here, we want to briefly review the ten year progress made towards the control or elimination of the diseases now identified by the WHO as NTDs.
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The PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases decade.
Bundy DAP, Hotez P. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2017; 11(4):e0005479.
No abstract.
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Global coalition chips away at neglected tropical diseases.
Maxmen A. Nature. 2017; 544(7650):281-282.
No abstract.
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