Assessing Lymphatic Filariasis Data Quality in Endemic Communities in Ghana, Using the Neglected Tropical Diseases Data Quality Assessment Tool for Preventive Chemotherapy

Background: Lymphatic filariasis is a pervasive and life-threatening disease for human beings. Currently, 893 million people in 49 countries worldwide affected by lymphatic filariasis as per WHO statistics. The concealed aspects of lymphatic diseases such as delayed disease detection, inappropriate disease imaging, the geographical outbreak of infection, and lack of preventive chemotherapy have brought this epidemic to the edge of Neglected Tropical Diseases. Many medications and natural bioactive substances have seen to promote filaricidal activity against the target parasitic species. However, the majority of failures have occurred in pharmaceutical and pharmacokinetic issues. Objective: The purpose of the study is to focus on the challenges and therapeutic issues in the treatment of filariasis. The review brings novel techniques and therapeutic approaches for combating lymphatic filariasis. It also offers significant developments and opportunities for such therapeutic interventions. Conclusion: Through this review, an attempt has made to critically evaluate the avenues of innovative pharmaceuticals and molecular targeting approaches to bring an integrated solution to combat lymphatic filariasis.

Download Full-text

Are current preventive chemotherapy strategies for controlling and eliminating neglected tropical diseases cost-effective?

BMJ Global Health ◽

10.1136/bmjgh-2021-005456 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (8) ◽

pp. e005456

Author(s):

Hugo C Turner ◽

Wilma A Stolk ◽

Anthony W Solomon ◽

Jonathan D King ◽

Antonio Montresor ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lymphatic Filariasis ◽

Low Income ◽

Neglected Tropical Diseases ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Healthcare Spending ◽

Tropical Diseases ◽

Preventive Chemotherapy ◽

Middle Income ◽

Disability Adjusted Life ◽

The Cost

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) remain a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in many low-income and middle-income countries. Several NTDs, namely lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiases (STH) and trachoma, are predominantly controlled by preventive chemotherapy (or mass drug administration), following recommendations set by the WHO. Over one billion people are now treated for NTDs with this strategy per year. However, further investment and increased domestic healthcare spending are urgently needed to continue these programmes. Consequently, it is vital that the cost-effectiveness of preventive chemotherapy is understood. We analyse the current estimates on the cost per disability-adjusted life year (DALY) of the preventive chemotherapy strategies predominantly used for these diseases and identify key evidence gaps that require further research. Overall, the reported estimates show that preventive chemotherapy is generally cost-effective, supporting WHO recommendations. More specifically, the cost per DALY averted estimates relating to community-wide preventive chemotherapy for lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis were particularly favourable when compared with other public health interventions. Cost per DALY averted estimates of school-based preventive chemotherapy for schistosomiasis and STH were also generally favourable but more variable. Notably, the broader socioeconomic benefits are likely not being fully captured by the DALYs averted metric. No estimates of cost per DALY averted relating to community-wide mass antibiotic treatment for trachoma were found, highlighting the need for further research. These findings are important for informing global health policy and support the need for continuing NTD control and elimination efforts.

Download Full-text

Emerging Resistance of Neglected Tropical Diseases: A Scoping Review of the Literature

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph16111925 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (11) ◽

pp. 1925 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Folahanmi T. Akinsolu ◽

Priscilla O. Nemieboka ◽

Diana W. Njuguna ◽

Makafui N. Ahadji ◽

Dora Dezso ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Drug Resistance ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Neglected Tropical Diseases ◽

Experimental Studies ◽

Surveillance Systems ◽

Tropical Diseases ◽

Global Public Health ◽

Preventive Chemotherapy ◽

Clinical Resistance ◽

Socio Demographic Factors

Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global public health threat with the potential to cause millions of deaths. There has been a tremendous increase in the use of antimicrobials, stemming from preventive chemotherapy elimination and control programs addressing neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). This study aims to identify the frequency of drug resistance for 11 major NTDs and 20 treatment drugs within a specific period by systematically analyzing the study design, socio-demographic factors, resistance, and countries of relevant studies. Methods: Adhering to PRISMA guidelines, we performed systematic reviews of the major 11 NTDs to identify publications on drug resistance between 2000 and 2016. A quality assessment tool adapted for evaluating observational and experimental studies was applied to assess the quality of eligible studies. Results: One of the major findings is that six NTDs have information on drug resistance, namely human African trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminths, and trachoma. Many studies recorded resistance due to diagnostic tests, and few studies indicated clinical resistance. Although most studies were performed in Africa where there is the occurrence of several NTDs, there was no link between disease burden and locations of study. Conclusions: Based on this study we deduce that monitoring and surveillance systems need to be strengthened to enable the early detection of AMR and the mitigation of its global spread.

Download Full-text

African regional progress and status of the programme to eliminate lymphatic filariasis: 2000–2020

International Health ◽

10.1093/inthealth/ihaa058 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S22-S27

Author(s):

Kebede Deribe ◽

Didier K Bakajika ◽

Honorat Marie-Gustave Zoure ◽

John O Gyapong ◽

David H Molyneux ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Vector Control ◽

Lymphatic Filariasis ◽

Neglected Tropical Diseases ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

World Health ◽

Malaria Vector Control ◽

Tropical Diseases ◽

Significant Progress ◽

African Region ◽

Preventive Chemotherapy

Abstract To eliminate lymphatic filariasis (LF) by 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a campaign against the disease. Since the launch in 2000, significant progress has been made to achieve this ambitious goal. In this article we review the progress and status of the LF programme in Africa through the WHO neglected tropical diseases preventive chemotherapy databank, the Expanded Special Project for Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases (ESPEN) portal and other publications. In the African Region there are 35 countries endemic for LF. The Gambia was reclassified as not requiring preventive chemotherapy in 2015, while Togo and Malawi eliminated LF as a public health problem in 2017 and 2020, respectively. Cameroon discontinued mass drug administration (MDA) and transitioned to post-MDA surveillance to validate elimination. The trajectory of coverage continues to accelerate; treatment coverage increased from 0.1% in 2000 to 62.1% in 2018. Geographical coverage has also significantly increased, from 62.7% in 2015 to 78.5% in 2018. In 2019, 23 of 31 countries requiring MDA achieved 100% geographic coverage. Although much remains to be done, morbidity management and disability prevention services have steadily increased in recent years. Vector control interventions conducted by other programmes, particularly malaria vector control, have had a profound effect in stopping transmission in some endemic countries in the region. In conclusion, significant progress has been made in the LF programme in the region while we identify the key remaining challenges in achieving an Africa free of LF.

Download Full-text

Exploring completeness in clinical data research networks with DQe-c

Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association ◽

10.1093/jamia/ocx109 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 25 (1) ◽

pp. 17-24 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Hossein Estiri ◽

Kari A Stephens ◽

Jeffrey G Klann ◽

Shawn N Murphy

Keyword(s):

Data Quality ◽

Quality Assessment ◽

Clinical Data ◽

Data Science ◽

Ad Hoc ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Data Repository ◽

Process Data ◽

Data Repositories ◽

Data Quality Assessment

Abstract Objective To provide an open source, interoperable, and scalable data quality assessment tool for evaluation and visualization of completeness and conformance in electronic health record (EHR) data repositories. Materials and Methods This article describes the tool’s design and architecture and gives an overview of its outputs using a sample dataset of 200 000 randomly selected patient records with an encounter since January 1, 2010, extracted from the Research Patient Data Registry (RPDR) at Partners HealthCare. All the code and instructions to run the tool and interpret its results are provided in the Supplementary Appendix. Results DQe-c produces a web-based report that summarizes data completeness and conformance in a given EHR data repository through descriptive graphics and tables. Results from running the tool on the sample RPDR data are organized into 4 sections: load and test details, completeness test, data model conformance test, and test of missingness in key clinical indicators. Discussion Open science, interoperability across major clinical informatics platforms, and scalability to large databases are key design considerations for DQe-c. Iterative implementation of the tool across different institutions directed us to improve the scalability and interoperability of the tool and find ways to facilitate local setup. Conclusion EHR data quality assessment has been hampered by implementation of ad hoc processes. The architecture and implementation of DQe-c offer valuable insights for developing reproducible and scalable data science tools to assess, manage, and process data in clinical data repositories.

Download Full-text

SQUAT: a Sequencing Quality Assessment Tool for data quality assessments of genome assemblies

BMC Genomics ◽

10.1186/s12864-019-5445-3 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (S9) ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Li-An Yang ◽

Yu-Jung Chang ◽

Shu-Hwa Chen ◽

Chung-Yen Lin ◽

Jan-Ming Ho

Keyword(s):

Data Quality ◽

Quality Assessment ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Quality Assessment Tool ◽

Sequencing Quality ◽

Genome Assemblies ◽

Quality Assessments

Download Full-text

Clinical Research Informatics: Contributions from 2018

Yearbook of Medical Informatics ◽

10.1055/s-0039-1677921 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 28 (01) ◽

pp. 203-205 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Christel Daniel ◽

Dipak Kalra ◽

Keyword(s):

Clinical Research ◽

Data Quality ◽

Quality Assessment ◽

Clinical Data ◽

Hospital Admissions ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Editorial Team ◽

Free Text ◽

Data Quality Assessment ◽

Clinical Research Informatics

Objectives: To summarize key contributions to current research in the field of Clinical Research Informatics (CRI) and to select best papers published in 2018. Method: A bibliographic search using a combination of MeSH descriptors and free-text terms on CRI was performed using PubMed, followed by a double-blind review in order to select a list of candidate best papers to be then peer-reviewed by external reviewers. After peer-review ranking, a consensus meeting of the editorial team was organized to conclude on the selection of best papers. Results: Among the 1,469 retrieved papers published in 2018 in the various areas of CRI, the full review process selected four best papers. The first best paper describes a simple algorithm detecting co-morbidities in Electronic Healthcare Records (EHRs) using a clinical data warehouse and a knowledge base. The authors of the second best paper present a federated algorithm for predicting heart failure hospital admissions based on patients' medical history described in their distributed EHRs. The third best paper reports the evaluation of an open source, interoperable, and scalable data quality assessment tool measuring completeness of data items, which can be run on different architectures (EHRs and Clinical Data Warehouses (CDWs) based on PCORnet or OMOP data models). The fourth best paper reports a data quality program conducted across 37 hospitals addressing data quality Issues through the whole data life cycle from patient to researcher. Conclusions: Research efforts in the CRI field currently focus on consolidating promises of early Distributed Research Networks aimed at maximizing the potential of large-scale, harmonized data from diverse, quickly developing digital sources. Data quality assessment methods and tools as well as privacy-enhancing techniques are major concerns. It is also notable that, following examples in the US and Asia, ambitious regional or national plans in Europe are launched that aim at developing big data and new artificial intelligence technologies to contribute to the understanding of health and diseases in whole populations and whole health systems, and returning actionable feedback loops to improve existing models of research and care. The use of “real-world" data is continuously increasing but the ultimate role of this data in clinical research remains to be determined.

Download Full-text