Control of chronic Strongyloides stercoralis infection in an endemic community may be possible by pharmacological means alone: Results of a three-year cohort study

Hays, Russell, Esterman, Adrian, and McDermott, Robyn (2017) Control of chronic Strongyloides stercoralis infection in an endemic community may be possible by pharmacological means alone: Results of a three-year cohort study. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 11 (7). e0005825.

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Abstract

Objectives: To assess the effect of treatment with ivermectin on the prevalence of S. stercoralis infection in an Australian Aboriginal population over a three year period, and to assess the validity of using a lower ELISA cut-off in diagnosis.

Methods: A three-year cohort study of 259 adult Australian Aboriginals living in a remote community in northern Australia. S stercoralis infection was diagnosed using commercial ELISA testing, and employed a lower threshold for treatment than that recommended. Follow up was conducted at 6 months and 3 years following ivermectin treatment.

Findings: Treatment with ivermectin was highly effective and resulted in a sustained fall in the prevalence of infection in the study group (Initial prevalence 35.3%, 3 year prevalence 5.8%, McNemar's chi(2) = 56.5, p<0.001). Results of treatment suggested use of a lower ELISA threshold for treatment was valid in this setting. Follow up identified a small group of subjects with persistently positive ELISA serology despite repeated treatment.

Interpretation: Control of S. stercoralis infection in this cohort appears to be feasible using pharmacological treatment alone.

Item ID: 50312
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1935-2735
Additional Information:

© 2017 Hays et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Date Deposited: 20 Sep 2017 07:52
FoR Codes: 45 INDIGENOUS STUDIES > 4504 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing > 450406 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander epidemiology @ 50%
32 BIOMEDICAL AND CLINICAL SCIENCES > 3207 Medical microbiology > 320704 Medical parasitology @ 50%
SEO Codes: 92 HEALTH > 9203 Indigenous Health > 920399 Indigenous Health not elsewhere classified @ 100%
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