Control, elimination, and eradication of river blindness: scenarios, timelines, and ivermectin treatment needs in Africa.
River blindness (onchocerciasis) causes severe itching, skin lesions, and vision impairment including blindness. More than 99% of all current cases are found in sub-Saharan Africa. Fortunately, vector control and community-directed treatment with ivermectin have significantly reduced morbidity. Stud...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:20b6d91ed2644d458505d798460a91a1 2023-05-15T15:10:53+02:00 Control, elimination, and eradication of river blindness: scenarios, timelines, and ivermectin treatment needs in Africa. Young Eun Kim Jan H F Remme Peter Steinmann Wilma A Stolk Jean-Baptiste Roungou Fabrizio Tediosi 2015-04-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0003664 https://doaj.org/article/20b6d91ed2644d458505d798460a91a1 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4393239?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0003664 https://doaj.org/article/20b6d91ed2644d458505d798460a91a1 PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 9, Iss 4, p e0003664 (2015) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2015 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0003664 2022-12-31T14:52:24Z River blindness (onchocerciasis) causes severe itching, skin lesions, and vision impairment including blindness. More than 99% of all current cases are found in sub-Saharan Africa. Fortunately, vector control and community-directed treatment with ivermectin have significantly reduced morbidity. Studies in Mali and Senegal proved the feasibility of elimination with ivermectin administration. The treatment goal is shifting from control to elimination in endemic African regions. Given limited resources, national and global policymakers need a rigorous analysis comparing investment options. For this, we developed scenarios for alternative treatment goals and compared treatment timelines and drug needs between the scenarios. Control, elimination, and eradication scenarios were developed with reference to current standard practices, large-scale studies, and historical data. For each scenario, the timeline when treatment is expected to stop at country level was predicted using a dynamical transmission model, and ivermectin treatment needs were predicted based on population in endemic areas, treatment coverage data, and the frequency of community-directed treatment. The control scenario requires community-directed treatment with ivermectin beyond 2045 with around 2.63 billion treatments over 2013-2045; the elimination scenario, until 2028 in areas where feasible, but beyond 2045 in countries with operational challenges, around 1.48 [corrected] billion treatments; and the eradication scenario, lasting until 2040, around 1.30 billion treatments. The eradication scenario is the most favorable in terms of the timeline of the intervention phase and treatment needs. For its realization, strong health systems and political will are required to overcome epidemiological and political challenges. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 9 4 e0003664 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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English |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Young Eun Kim Jan H F Remme Peter Steinmann Wilma A Stolk Jean-Baptiste Roungou Fabrizio Tediosi Control, elimination, and eradication of river blindness: scenarios, timelines, and ivermectin treatment needs in Africa. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
River blindness (onchocerciasis) causes severe itching, skin lesions, and vision impairment including blindness. More than 99% of all current cases are found in sub-Saharan Africa. Fortunately, vector control and community-directed treatment with ivermectin have significantly reduced morbidity. Studies in Mali and Senegal proved the feasibility of elimination with ivermectin administration. The treatment goal is shifting from control to elimination in endemic African regions. Given limited resources, national and global policymakers need a rigorous analysis comparing investment options. For this, we developed scenarios for alternative treatment goals and compared treatment timelines and drug needs between the scenarios. Control, elimination, and eradication scenarios were developed with reference to current standard practices, large-scale studies, and historical data. For each scenario, the timeline when treatment is expected to stop at country level was predicted using a dynamical transmission model, and ivermectin treatment needs were predicted based on population in endemic areas, treatment coverage data, and the frequency of community-directed treatment. The control scenario requires community-directed treatment with ivermectin beyond 2045 with around 2.63 billion treatments over 2013-2045; the elimination scenario, until 2028 in areas where feasible, but beyond 2045 in countries with operational challenges, around 1.48 [corrected] billion treatments; and the eradication scenario, lasting until 2040, around 1.30 billion treatments. The eradication scenario is the most favorable in terms of the timeline of the intervention phase and treatment needs. For its realization, strong health systems and political will are required to overcome epidemiological and political challenges. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Young Eun Kim Jan H F Remme Peter Steinmann Wilma A Stolk Jean-Baptiste Roungou Fabrizio Tediosi |
author_facet |
Young Eun Kim Jan H F Remme Peter Steinmann Wilma A Stolk Jean-Baptiste Roungou Fabrizio Tediosi |
author_sort |
Young Eun Kim |
title |
Control, elimination, and eradication of river blindness: scenarios, timelines, and ivermectin treatment needs in Africa. |
title_short |
Control, elimination, and eradication of river blindness: scenarios, timelines, and ivermectin treatment needs in Africa. |
title_full |
Control, elimination, and eradication of river blindness: scenarios, timelines, and ivermectin treatment needs in Africa. |
title_fullStr |
Control, elimination, and eradication of river blindness: scenarios, timelines, and ivermectin treatment needs in Africa. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Control, elimination, and eradication of river blindness: scenarios, timelines, and ivermectin treatment needs in Africa. |
title_sort |
control, elimination, and eradication of river blindness: scenarios, timelines, and ivermectin treatment needs in africa. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0003664 https://doaj.org/article/20b6d91ed2644d458505d798460a91a1 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 9, Iss 4, p e0003664 (2015) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4393239?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0003664 https://doaj.org/article/20b6d91ed2644d458505d798460a91a1 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0003664 |
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PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
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9 |
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4 |
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e0003664 |
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