Community-based Guinea worm surveillance in Chad: Evaluating a system at the intersection of human and animal disease.
Background Guinea worm is a debilitating parasitic infection targeted for eradication. Annual human cases have dropped from approximately 3,500,000 in 1986 to 54 in 2019. Recent identification of canine cases in Chad threatens progress, and therefore detection, prevention, and containment of canine...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:d3f61800e34a4566ae9f90da7343c0a2 2023-05-15T15:15:13+02:00 Community-based Guinea worm surveillance in Chad: Evaluating a system at the intersection of human and animal disease. Beth L Rubenstein Sharon L Roy Karmen Unterwegner Sarah Yerian Adam Weiss Hubert Zirimwabagabo Elisabeth Chop Mario Romero Philip Tchindebet Ouakou Tchonfienet Moundai Sarah Anne J Guagliardo 2021-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009285 https://doaj.org/article/d3f61800e34a4566ae9f90da7343c0a2 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009285 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0009285 https://doaj.org/article/d3f61800e34a4566ae9f90da7343c0a2 PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 15, Iss 3, p e0009285 (2021) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009285 2022-12-31T08:00:29Z Background Guinea worm is a debilitating parasitic infection targeted for eradication. Annual human cases have dropped from approximately 3,500,000 in 1986 to 54 in 2019. Recent identification of canine cases in Chad threatens progress, and therefore detection, prevention, and containment of canine cases is a priority. We investigated associations between disease knowledge, community engagement, and canine cases in Chad to identify opportunities to improve active surveillance. Methods We surveyed 627 respondents (villagers, local leaders, community volunteers, and supervisors) across 45 villages under active surveillance. Descriptive statistics were analyzed by respondent category. Logistic regression models were fitted to assess the effects of volunteer visit frequency on villager knowledge. Results Knowledge increased with respondents' associations with the Guinea worm program. Household visit frequency by community volunteers was uneven: 53.0% of villagers reported visits at least twice weekly and 21.4% of villagers reported never being visited. Villagers visited by a volunteer at least twice weekly had better knowledge of Guinea worm symptoms (OR: 1.71; 95% CI: 1.04-2.79) and could name more prevention strategies (OR: 2.04; 95% CI: 1.32-3.15) than villagers visited less frequently. The primary motivation to report was to facilitate care-seeking for people with Guinea worm. Knowledge of animal "containment" to prevent contamination of water, knowledge of rewards for reporting animal cases, and ability to name any reasons to report Guinea worm were each positively correlated with village canine case counts. Conclusions Community volunteers play crucial roles in educating their neighbors about Guinea worm and facilitating surveillance. Additional training and more attentive management of volunteers and supervisors could increase visit frequency and further amplify their impact. Emphasizing links between animal and human cases, the importance of animal containment, and animal rewards might improve surveillance ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 15 3 e0009285 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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English |
topic |
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 Beth L Rubenstein Sharon L Roy Karmen Unterwegner Sarah Yerian Adam Weiss Hubert Zirimwabagabo Elisabeth Chop Mario Romero Philip Tchindebet Ouakou Tchonfienet Moundai Sarah Anne J Guagliardo Community-based Guinea worm surveillance in Chad: Evaluating a system at the intersection of human and animal disease. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
Background Guinea worm is a debilitating parasitic infection targeted for eradication. Annual human cases have dropped from approximately 3,500,000 in 1986 to 54 in 2019. Recent identification of canine cases in Chad threatens progress, and therefore detection, prevention, and containment of canine cases is a priority. We investigated associations between disease knowledge, community engagement, and canine cases in Chad to identify opportunities to improve active surveillance. Methods We surveyed 627 respondents (villagers, local leaders, community volunteers, and supervisors) across 45 villages under active surveillance. Descriptive statistics were analyzed by respondent category. Logistic regression models were fitted to assess the effects of volunteer visit frequency on villager knowledge. Results Knowledge increased with respondents' associations with the Guinea worm program. Household visit frequency by community volunteers was uneven: 53.0% of villagers reported visits at least twice weekly and 21.4% of villagers reported never being visited. Villagers visited by a volunteer at least twice weekly had better knowledge of Guinea worm symptoms (OR: 1.71; 95% CI: 1.04-2.79) and could name more prevention strategies (OR: 2.04; 95% CI: 1.32-3.15) than villagers visited less frequently. The primary motivation to report was to facilitate care-seeking for people with Guinea worm. Knowledge of animal "containment" to prevent contamination of water, knowledge of rewards for reporting animal cases, and ability to name any reasons to report Guinea worm were each positively correlated with village canine case counts. Conclusions Community volunteers play crucial roles in educating their neighbors about Guinea worm and facilitating surveillance. Additional training and more attentive management of volunteers and supervisors could increase visit frequency and further amplify their impact. Emphasizing links between animal and human cases, the importance of animal containment, and animal rewards might improve surveillance ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Beth L Rubenstein Sharon L Roy Karmen Unterwegner Sarah Yerian Adam Weiss Hubert Zirimwabagabo Elisabeth Chop Mario Romero Philip Tchindebet Ouakou Tchonfienet Moundai Sarah Anne J Guagliardo |
author_facet |
Beth L Rubenstein Sharon L Roy Karmen Unterwegner Sarah Yerian Adam Weiss Hubert Zirimwabagabo Elisabeth Chop Mario Romero Philip Tchindebet Ouakou Tchonfienet Moundai Sarah Anne J Guagliardo |
author_sort |
Beth L Rubenstein |
title |
Community-based Guinea worm surveillance in Chad: Evaluating a system at the intersection of human and animal disease. |
title_short |
Community-based Guinea worm surveillance in Chad: Evaluating a system at the intersection of human and animal disease. |
title_full |
Community-based Guinea worm surveillance in Chad: Evaluating a system at the intersection of human and animal disease. |
title_fullStr |
Community-based Guinea worm surveillance in Chad: Evaluating a system at the intersection of human and animal disease. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Community-based Guinea worm surveillance in Chad: Evaluating a system at the intersection of human and animal disease. |
title_sort |
community-based guinea worm surveillance in chad: evaluating a system at the intersection of human and animal disease. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009285 https://doaj.org/article/d3f61800e34a4566ae9f90da7343c0a2 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 15, Iss 3, p e0009285 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009285 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0009285 https://doaj.org/article/d3f61800e34a4566ae9f90da7343c0a2 |
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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009285 |
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PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
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15 |
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3 |
container_start_page |
e0009285 |
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