Jharkhand health department is launching a special drive-Mass Drug Administration (MDA) from tomorrow (September 16 to September 30) in eight districts including Ranchi to eliminate ‘lymphatic filariasis’ in the state.

Our community-based approach to LFM burden estimation appears scalable and provided reliable prevalence estimates for LFM, scrotal swellings and LF-lymphoedema. The results represent a step-change improvement on CBS integrated with MDA, whilst remaining at programmatically feasible costs. 

Our analysis suggests that onchocerciasis infection has declined over the last two decades throughout western and central Africa. Focal areas of Angola, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Uganda continue to have mean microfiladermia prevalence estimates exceeding 25%. At and above this level, the continuation or initiation of mass drug administration with ivermectin is supported.

A mass distribution campaign of Mectizan took place on September 6, 2022 in the Minkama 3 village located in the health district of Obala.

[W]e believe the evidence supporting this definition of EPHP [elimination as a public health problem] is inadequate and the shifting distribution of schistosomiasis morbidity towards more subtle, rather than severe, morbidity in the face of large-scale control programmes requires guidelines to be adapted. In this Viewpoint, we outline the need for more accurate measures to develop a robust evidence-based monitoring and evaluation framework for schistosomiasis.

The current study shows that urinary schistosomiasis is endemic in the study areas and is associated with water contact, and S. haematobium isolated is closely related to hybrids of S. bovis × S. haematobium strain, indicating the zoonotic potential of this parasite.

Detection of RBCs was a significant predictor of S. haematobium infection and could be used as a screening method in migrants coming from endemic areas. Early urogenital schistosomiasis diagnosis and ultrasound diagnostic tools are crucial for reducing the risk of potential neoplastic evolution.

Cuayzon said the DoH has adopted a four-pronged approach to control the spread of schistosomiasis. These are through preventive chemotherapy through mass drug administration, case finding and management, environmental management, and promotion of safe water and sanitation.

Here, we focus on leveraging genomic data to tailor interventions to distinct social and ecological circumstances. We consider two priority questions that can be addressed by integrating epidemiological, ecological, and genomic information: (1) how often do non-human host species contribute to human schistosome infection? and (2) what is the importance of locally acquired versus imported infections in driving transmission at different stages of elimination? These questions address processes that can undermine control programs, especially those that rely heavily on treatment with praziquantel. Until recently, these questions were difficult to answer with sufficient precision to inform public health decision-making. We review the literature related to these questions and discuss how whole genome approaches can identify the geographic and taxonomic sources of infection, and how such information can inform context-specific efforts that advance schistosomiasis control efforts and minimize the risk of reemergence.

The findings of this study showed a nearly moderate level of STH prevalence among household heads in the peri-urban community. This could serve as an important reservoir for reinfection of the treated children and other at-risk groups in the community.

Future studies should strive toward identifying unknown SM and isolating the under-explored niche of helminth metabolites using the latest metabolomics technologies and associated software, which hold potential keys for finding new diagnostics and novel therapeutics.

Over 217,000 people will be treated for trachoma this week in three districts of the central Mozambican province of Manica. The target population are residents of Tambara, Macossa and Guro districts, which have the highest number of cases of the disease.

[A]s the COVID-19 pandemic gained momentum in early 2020, those gatherings had to be halted to avoid becoming super-spreader events. With significant Carter Center support, the Ministry of Health and the Amhara Regional Health Bureau pivoted to distributing the medication door to door, household by household, a much more labor-intensive and time-consuming method, but one that would not contribute to the spread of COVID-19 while ensuring the people received their annual azithromycin dose. On top of that unwelcome complication, a devastating armed conflict erupted in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, immediately north of the Amhara region. The violence seeped into Amhara, adding mortal danger to medical difficulty brought on by the pandemic. The people of Amhara and in-country Carter Center teams and ministerial partners persevered.

Effective administration of preventive chemotherapy relies largely on operational planning which addresses the need for programs to reach all eligible people and maximize community demand for the intervention. Local, bottom-up planning (“microplanning”) fosters effective implementation and monitoring of public health programs. Originally, public health implementers developed microplanning for use in vaccination campaigns, but various programs, including those for control and elimination of NTDs, now use it. This manual is based on these and other country experiences in microplanning of preventive chemotherapy for NTDs . It describes the basic concepts of microplanning, steps, and examples of tools to develop and implement a microplan.

This course provides practical ideas, tools, and examples to enable each of us to take One Health action towards the global goal of substantially reducing the burden of NTDs by 2030.

Dracunculiasis, elephantiasis, trypanosomiasis and trachoma are no longer public health problems in Togo. Better treatment planning and the involvement of all stakeholders are the keys to success.

Act | East recognizes that NTD control and elimination goals will only be met if all people, and particularly the most vulnerable, are reached by NTD control and elimination efforts. To address this, the Act to End NTDs | East Program integrates strategies for gender equity and social inclusion (GESI) into its programming.