Evaluating Molecular Xenomonitoring as a Tool for Lymphatic Filariasis Surveillance in Samoa, 2018–2019

McPherson, Brady, Mayfield, Helen J., McLure, Angus, Gass, Katherine, Naseri, Take, Thomsen, Robert, Williams, Steven A., Pilotte, Nils, Kearns, Therese, Graves, Patricia M., and Lau, Colleen L. (2022) Evaluating Molecular Xenomonitoring as a Tool for Lymphatic Filariasis Surveillance in Samoa, 2018–2019. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, 7 (8). 203.

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Abstract

Molecular xenomonitoring (MX), the detection of filarial DNA in mosquitoes using molecular methods (PCR), is a potentially useful surveillance strategy for lymphatic filariasis (LF) elimination programs. Delay in filarial antigen (Ag) clearance post-treatment is a limitation of using human surveys to provide an early indicator of the impact of mass drug administration (MDA), and MX may be more useful in this setting. We compared prevalence of infected mosquitoes pre- and post-MDA (2018 and 2019) in 35 primary sampling units (PSUs) in Samoa, and investigated associations between the presence of PCR-positive mosquitoes and Ag-positive humans. We observed a statistically significant decline in estimated mosquito infection prevalence post-MDA at the national level (from 0.9% to 0.3%, OR 0.4) but no change in human Ag prevalence during this time. Ag prevalence in 2019 was higher in randomly selected PSUs where PCR-positive pools were detected (1.4% in ages 5–9; 4.8% in ages ≥10), compared to those where PCR-positive pools were not detected (0.2% in ages 5–9; 3.2% in ages ≥10). Our study provides promising evidence for MX as a complement to human surveys in post-MDA surveillance.

Item ID: 76456
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 2414-6366
Keywords: elephantiasis, entomology, molecular xenomonitoring, neglected tropical diseases, vector-borne disease
Copyright Information: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Funders: National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC)
Projects and Grants: NHMRC 1109035, NHMRC 1193826
Date Deposited: 23 Mar 2023 00:41
FoR Codes: 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4202 Epidemiology > 420202 Disease surveillance @ 34%
45 INDIGENOUS STUDIES > 4516 Pacific Peoples health and wellbeing > 451605 Pacific Peoples epidemiology @ 33%
32 BIOMEDICAL AND CLINICAL SCIENCES > 3207 Medical microbiology > 320704 Medical parasitology @ 33%
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