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Emerging Infectious Diseases Apr 2016We conducted a randomized, controlled trial to test the effectiveness of a text-messaging system used for notification of disease outbreaks in Kenya. Health facilities... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
We conducted a randomized, controlled trial to test the effectiveness of a text-messaging system used for notification of disease outbreaks in Kenya. Health facilities that used the system had more timely notifications than those that did not (19.2% vs. 2.6%), indicating that technology can enhance disease surveillance in resource-limited settings.
Topics: Anthrax; Cell Phone; Disease Notification; Disease Outbreaks; Dracunculiasis; Epidemiological Monitoring; Health Facilities; Humans; Inservice Training; Kenya; Measles; Q Fever; Text Messaging; Workforce
PubMed: 26981628
DOI: 10.3201/eid2204.151459 -
PLoS Pathogens Jan 2016
Topics: Animals; Communicable Diseases; Disease Eradication; Dracunculiasis; Humans; Schistosomiasis; Smallpox
PubMed: 26741130
DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1005298 -
Releve Epidemiologique Hebdomadaire Dec 2015
Topics: Africa, Eastern; Chad; Dracunculiasis; Humans; Mali
PubMed: 26685392
DOI: No ID Found -
Releve Epidemiologique Hebdomadaire Nov 2015
Topics: Chad; Dracunculiasis; Ethiopia; Humans; Kenya; Mali; South Sudan; Sudan
PubMed: 26591027
DOI: No ID Found -
MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly... Oct 2015Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) is caused by Dracunculus medinensis, a parasitic worm. Approximately 1 year after a person acquires infection from contaminated...
Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) is caused by Dracunculus medinensis, a parasitic worm. Approximately 1 year after a person acquires infection from contaminated drinking water, the worm emerges through the skin, usually on the lower limb. Pain and secondary bacterial infection can cause temporary or permanent disability that disrupts work and schooling. The campaign to eradicate dracunculiasis worldwide began in 1980 at CDC. In 1986, the World Health Assembly called for dracunculiasis elimination, and the global Guinea Worm Eradication Program, led by the Carter Center and supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), CDC, and other partners, began assisting ministries of health in countries where dracunculiasis was endemic. In 1986, an estimated 3.5 million cases occurred each year in 20 countries in Africa and Asia. Since then, although the goal of eradicating dracunculiasis has not been achieved, considerable progress has been made. Compared with the 1986 estimate, the annual number of reported cases in 2015 has been reduced by 99% and cases are confined to four endemic countries. This report updates published and unpublished surveillance data reported by ministries of health and describes progress toward dracunculiasis eradication from January 2014 through June 2015. During 2014, a total of 126 cases were reported from four countries (Chad [13 cases], Ethiopia [three], Mali [40], and South Sudan [70]), compared with 148 cases reported in 2013, from the same four countries. The overall 15% reduction in cases during 2013–2014 was less than that experienced in recent years, but the rate of decline increased again to 70% in the first 6 months of 2015 compared with the same period during 2014. Continued active surveillance with aggressive detection and appropriate management of cases are essential program components; however, epidemiologic challenges and civil unrest and insecurity pose potential barriers to eradication.
Topics: Disease Eradication; Dracunculiasis; Global Health; Humans
PubMed: 26492134
DOI: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6441a1 -
Releve Epidemiologique Hebdomadaire Oct 2015
Topics: Chad; Disease Eradication; Dracunculiasis; Ethiopia; Humans; Kenya; Mali; Sudan
PubMed: 26454889
DOI: No ID Found -
Parasites & Vectors Jul 2015Despite being certified guinea worm free in 2007, Cameroon continues surveillance efforts to ensure rapid verification of any suspected reoccurrence. This includes the...
BACKGROUND
Despite being certified guinea worm free in 2007, Cameroon continues surveillance efforts to ensure rapid verification of any suspected reoccurrence. This includes the investigation of every rumor and confirmation of each suspicious expulsed worm. This paper presents fieldwork carried out to investigate a guinea worm rumor in Cameroon which turned out to be an Onchocerca volvulus mimicking Dracunculus medinensis.
METHODS
The investigation included a field visit to the subsistence farming community where the rumor was reported. During the visit, interviews were conducted with health staff who managed the case and the elderly farmer from whom the worm was retrieved. An investigation of any potential missed guinea worm cases was also conducted through interviews with community residents and reviews of the health facility's medical records. This was combined with laboratory analyses of water samples from the community's water sources and the retrieved worm which was removed from the patient via wrapping it around a stick.
RESULTS
Microscopy and molecular analyses of the retrieved worm revealed a female Onchocerca volvulus whose expulsion strongly mimicked guinea worm. In addition to presenting findings of our investigation, this paper discusses distinguishing elements between the two parasites and gives an overview of guinea worm eradication efforts in Cameroon as well as current challenges to the worm's eradication globally.
CONCLUSIONS
The investigation findings suggest the evolving Onchocerca volvulus worm tropisms' adaptive survival behavior worth further investigation. Strategies used to successfully control guinea worm in Cameroon could be adapted for Onchocerca volvulus control.
Topics: Aged; Animals; Cameroon; Diagnosis, Differential; Dracunculiasis; Dracunculus Nematode; Farms; Female; Humans; Onchocerca volvulus; Onchocerciasis; Travel; Water
PubMed: 26178636
DOI: 10.1186/s13071-015-1004-1 -
The American Journal of Tropical... Aug 2015Thirty-seven unusual specimens, three from Ethiopia and 34 from South Sudan, were submitted since 2012 for further identification by the Ethiopian Dracunculiasis...
Thirty-seven unusual specimens, three from Ethiopia and 34 from South Sudan, were submitted since 2012 for further identification by the Ethiopian Dracunculiasis Eradication Program (EDEP) and the South Sudan Guinea Worm Eradication Program (SSGWEP), respectively. Although the majority of specimens emerged from sores or breaks in the skin, there was concern that they did not represent bona fide cases of Dracunculus medinensis and that they needed detailed examination and identification as provided by the World Health Organization Collaborating Center (WHO CC) at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). All 37 specimens were identified on microscopic study as larval tapeworms of the spargana type, and DNA sequence analysis of seven confirmed the identification of Spirometra sp. Age of cases ranged between 7 and 70 years (mean 25 years); 21 (57%) patients were male and 16 were female. The presence of spargana in open skin lesions is somewhat atypical, but does confirm the fact that populations living in these remote areas are either ingesting infected copepods in unsafe drinking water or, more likely, eating poorly cooked paratenic hosts harboring the parasite.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Animals; Child; Disease Eradication; Dracunculiasis; Dracunculus Nematode; Ethiopia; Female; Food Contamination; Food Parasitology; Foodborne Diseases; Humans; Larva; Male; Middle Aged; Sparganosis; Specimen Handling; Spirometra; Sudan; Water Supply; Young Adult
PubMed: 26055739
DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.15-0236 -
Releve Epidemiologique Hebdomadaire May 2015
Topics: Chad; Disease Eradication; Dracunculiasis; Ethiopia; Global Health; Humans; Kenya; Mali; Sudan
PubMed: 26027017
DOI: No ID Found -
Releve Epidemiologique Hebdomadaire May 2015
Topics: Chad; Dracunculiasis; Ethiopia; Humans; Kenya; Mali; Sudan
PubMed: 25958418
DOI: No ID Found