PMID- 24340120
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20140729
LR  - 20220408
IS  - 1935-2735 (Electronic)
IS  - 1935-2727 (Print)
IS  - 1935-2727 (Linking)
VI  - 7
IP  - 12
DP  - 2013
TI  - Transmission assessment surveys (TAS) to define endpoints for lymphatic 
      filariasis mass drug administration: a multicenter evaluation.
PG  - e2584
LID - 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002584 [doi]
LID - e2584
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is targeted for global elimination through 
      treatment of entire at-risk populations with repeated annual mass drug 
      administration (MDA). Essential for program success is defining and confirming 
      the appropriate endpoint for MDA when transmission is presumed to have reached a 
      level low enough that it cannot be sustained even in the absence of drug 
      intervention. Guidelines advanced by WHO call for a transmission assessment 
      survey (TAS) to determine if MDA can be stopped within an LF evaluation unit (EU) 
      after at least five effective rounds of annual treatment. To test the value and 
      practicality of these guidelines, a multicenter operational research trial was 
      undertaken in 11 countries covering various geographic and epidemiological 
      settings. METHODOLOGY: The TAS was conducted twice in each EU with TAS-1 and 
      TAS-2 approximately 24 months apart. Lot quality assurance sampling (LQAS) formed 
      the basis of the TAS survey design but specific EU characteristics defined the 
      survey site (school or community), eligible population (6-7 year olds or 
      1(st)-2(nd) graders), survey type (systematic or cluster-sampling), target sample 
      size, and critical cutoff (a statistically powered threshold below which 
      transmission is expected to be no longer sustainable). The primary diagnostic 
      tools were the immunochromatographic (ICT) test for W. bancrofti EUs and the BmR1 
      test (Brugia Rapid or PanLF) for Brugia spp. EUs. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS/CONCLUSIONS: 
      In 10 of 11 EUs, the number of TAS-1 positive cases was below the critical 
      cutoff, indicating that MDA could be stopped. The same results were found in the 
      follow-up TAS-2, therefore, confirming the previous decision outcome. Sample 
      sizes were highly sex and age-representative and closely matched the target value 
      after factoring in estimates of non-participation. The TAS was determined to be a 
      practical and effective evaluation tool for stopping MDA although its validity 
      for longer-term post-MDA surveillance requires further investigation.
FAU - Chu, Brian K
AU  - Chu BK
AD  - Neglected Tropical Diseases Support Center, Task Force for Global Health, 
      Decatur, Georgia, United States of America.
FAU - Deming, Michael
AU  - Deming M
FAU - Biritwum, Nana-Kwadwo
AU  - Biritwum NK
FAU - Bougma, Windtare R
AU  - Bougma WR
FAU - Dorkenoo, Ameyo M
AU  - Dorkenoo AM
FAU - El-Setouhy, Maged
AU  - El-Setouhy M
FAU - Fischer, Peter U
AU  - Fischer PU
FAU - Gass, Katherine
AU  - Gass K
FAU - Gonzalez de Pena, Manuel
AU  - Gonzalez de Pena M
FAU - Mercado-Hernandez, Leda
AU  - Mercado-Hernandez L
FAU - Kyelem, Dominique
AU  - Kyelem D
FAU - Lammie, Patrick J
AU  - Lammie PJ
FAU - Flueckiger, Rebecca M
AU  - Flueckiger RM
FAU - Mwingira, Upendo J
AU  - Mwingira UJ
FAU - Noordin, Rahmah
AU  - Noordin R
FAU - Offei Owusu, Irene
AU  - Offei Owusu I
FAU - Ottesen, Eric A
AU  - Ottesen EA
FAU - Pavluck, Alexandre
AU  - Pavluck A
FAU - Pilotte, Nils
AU  - Pilotte N
FAU - Rao, Ramakrishna U
AU  - Rao RU
FAU - Samarasekera, Dilhani
AU  - Samarasekera D
FAU - Schmaedick, Mark A
AU  - Schmaedick MA
FAU - Settinayake, Sunil
AU  - Settinayake S
FAU - Simonsen, Paul E
AU  - Simonsen PE
FAU - Supali, Taniawati
AU  - Supali T
FAU - Taleo, Fasihah
AU  - Taleo F
FAU - Torres, Melissa
AU  - Torres M
FAU - Weil, Gary J
AU  - Weil GJ
FAU - Won, Kimberly Y
AU  - Won KY
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Multicenter Study
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20131205
PL  - United States
TA  - PLoS Negl Trop Dis
JT  - PLoS neglected tropical diseases
JID - 101291488
RN  - 0 (Filaricides)
SB  - IM
MH  - Animals
MH  - Brugia/isolation & purification
MH  - Child
MH  - Disease Transmission, Infectious/*prevention & control
MH  - Elephantiasis, Filarial/*drug therapy/epidemiology/prevention & 
      control/*transmission
MH  - Epidemiological Monitoring
MH  - Female
MH  - Filaricides/*therapeutic use
MH  - Humans
MH  - Male
MH  - Wolbachia/isolation & purification
PMC - PMC3855047
COIS- The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
EDAT- 2013/12/18 06:00
MHDA- 2014/07/30 06:00
PMCR- 2013/12/05
CRDT- 2013/12/17 06:00
PHST- 2013/07/16 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2013/10/29 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2013/12/17 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2013/12/18 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2014/07/30 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2013/12/05 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - PNTD-D-13-01064 [pii]
AID - 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002584 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2013 Dec 5;7(12):e2584. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002584. 
      eCollection 2013.