Investigating the Effectiveness of Current and Modified World Health Organization Guidelines for the Control of Soil-Transmitted Helminth Infections

Farrell, SH
Coffeng, LE
Truscott, JE
Werkman, M
Toor, J
De Vlas, SJ
Anderson, RM

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Publication date

June 2018

DOI

10.1093/cid/ciy002

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)

Journal

Clinical Infectious Diseases

Abstract

Background Considerable efforts have been made to better understand the effectiveness of large-scale preventive chemotherapy therapy for the control of morbidity caused by infection with soil-transmitted helminths (STHs): Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, and the 2 hookworm species, Necator americanus and Ancylostoma duodenale. Current World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for STH control include mass drug administration (MDA) programs based on prevalence measurements, aiming at reducing morbidity in pre–school-aged children (pre-SAC) and school-aged children (SAC) by lowering the prevalence of moderate- to heavy-intensity infections to <1%. Methods We project the likely impact of following the current WHO guidelines and asses...