The coverage and frequency of mass drug administration required to eliminate persistent transmission of soil-transmitted helminths

Anderson, R., Truscott, J. and Hollingsworth, Deirdre (2014) 'The coverage and frequency of mass drug administration required to eliminate persistent transmission of soil-transmitted helminths'. Philosophical Transactions B: Biological Sciences, Vol 369, Issue 1645.

Preview

Text Phil_Tran_B_369_1645.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (1MB)

Abstract

A combination of methods, including mathematical model construction, demographic plus epidemiological data analysis and parameter estimation, are used to examine whether mass drug administration (MDA) alone can eliminate the transmission of soil-transmitted helminths (STHs). Numerical analyses suggest that in all but low transmission settings (as defined by the magnitude of the basic reproductive number, R0), the treatment of pre-school-aged children (pre-SAC) and school-aged children (SAC) is unlikely to drive transmission to a level where the parasites cannot persist. High levels of coverage (defined as the fraction of an age group effectively treated) are required in pre-SAC, SAC and adults, if MDA is to drive the parasite below the breakpoint under which transmission is eliminated. Long-term solutions to controlling helminth infections lie in concomitantly improving the quality of the water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). MDA, however, is a very cost-effective tool in long-term control given that most drugs are donated free by the pharmaceutical industry for poor regions of the world. WASH interventions, by lowering the basic reproductive number, can facilitate the ability of MDA to interrupt transmission.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Theme Issue ‘After 2015: infectious diseases in a new era of health and development’ compiled and edited by Christopher Dye and Anne O'Garra
Subjects:	QX Parasitology > QX 20 Research (General) QX Parasitology > Helminths. Annelida > QX 200 Helminths WA Public Health > WA 105 Epidemiology WA Public Health > Preventive Medicine > WA 108 Preventive health services. Preventive medicine. Travel Medicine. WA Public Health > Preventive Medicine > WA 110 Prevention and control of communicable diseases. Transmission of infectious diseases
Faculty: Department:	Clinical Sciences & International Health > Clinical Sciences Department
Digital Object Identifer (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0435
Depositing User:	Lynn Roberts-Maloney
Date Deposited:	08 Apr 2015 08:55
Last Modified:	06 Feb 2018 13:09
URI:	https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/5065

Statistics

View details

Actions (login required)

Edit Item