S Brooker

..More research is needed to examine the rates of re-infection and immune responses after chemotherapy, and to what extent the effects of polyparasitism are altered by chemotherapy...

..Such a map has important implications for schisosomiasis control programmes in the region...

..This study investigates the distribution and heterogeneity of coinfection with Plasmodium falciparum and 3 major helminth species across East Africa...

..This paper analyses the costs of intermittent screening and treatment (IST) of malaria in schools, implemented as part of a cluster-randomized controlled trial on the Kenyan coast...

..This paper evaluates the costs and cost-effectiveness of intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) as delivered by teachers in schools in western Kenya...

..19 per schoolchild. We conclude that, in Uganda, LQAS provides a rapid, valid and cost-effective method for guiding decision makers in allocating finite resources for the control of schistosomiasis...

..Using the example of schistosomiasis, this article outlines a framework for the evaluation of the impact of national control programmes, highlighting the important epidemiological and practical issues that must be addressed...

..70-9.51). Independent variables were shown to be statistically associated with both sets of estimates. This study highlights the potential bias in transferring data across settings without understanding the nature of observed variations...

..Remote sensing enabled development of a risk map, thereby providing a valuable tool to help guide malaria control strategies...

..The implications of the results are discussed in relation to parasite spatial epidemiology and the prediction of infection distributions...

..We suggest that such species-specific differences in patterns of infection by environment are primarily due to variation in exposure and parasite life cycle, although host genetic factors cannot be ruled out...

..This is despite the potential public health importance of co-infection and synergistic opportunities for control...

..It is suggested that improved incorporation of transmission dynamics into spatial models and assessment of uncertainties inherent in data and modelling approaches represent important future research directions...

..Our results indicate that, even in areas where there is a low overall prevalence of anaemia, hookworm can still have an important impact on host iron status, especially in school-aged children and the elderly...

..New approaches to school-based chemoprevention and treatment may also be able to play an important role in school-based malaria control, although these require further investigation...

..Conditional multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of malaria was higher in children who were underweight, who lived at lower altitudes, and who lived in households where drugs were not kept at home...

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..This study aims to evaluate the impact of school-based malaria prevention and enhanced literacy instruction on the health and educational achievement of school children in Kenya...

..Particular attention is paid to efforts to improve our ability to define at-risk populations, based on a Global Atlas of Helminth Infection, and to better estimate attributable morbidity...

..Finally, areas requiring further investigation are highlighted...

..In an attempt to address the paucity of geographical information on helminth risk, this article describes the development of an updated global atlas of human helminth infection, showing the example of East Africa...

..The lessons from the mapping of human helminth infections may also be relevant for the rapid mapping of malaria as its control efforts are intensified...

..These applications of GIS and remote sensing provide a good basis for developing control of soil-transmitted helminths in the region...

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..We sought to review existing evidence on the role of hookworm as a risk factor for anaemia among pregnant women. We also estimate the number of hookworm infections in pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)...

..We suggest that both school-age children and pregnant women--groups which have the highest risk of anemia--would benefit from an integrated approach to malaria and helminth control...

..The association between helminth infection and clinical malaria was investigated in two villages and no evidence for an association was observed between the presence of infection or heavy infection and risk of malaria...

..The developed model was then used to provide estimates of the number of schoolchildren at risk of high prevalence and associated programme costs...

..It is exactly 40 y since the last global map of malaria endemicity was published. This paper describes the generation of a new world map of Plasmodium falciparum malaria endemicity for the year 2007...

..CONCLUSION: Bayesian geostatistical analysis is a powerful and statistically robust tool for identifying high prevalence areas in a heterogeneous and imperfectly known environment...

..To design and implement surveys of malaria infection and coverage of malaria control interventions among school children in Kenya in order to contribute towards a nationwide assessment of malaria...

..3%, and 16.4% of women had malaria parasitaemia. Overall, 66.4% of women were anaemic. Increased risk of anaemia was associated with heavy infection with S. mansoni but not hookworm or Plasmodium falciparum parasitaemia...

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..Schistosomiasis in the Region is caused by either Schistosoma haematobium or S. mansoni and large-scale control efforts include providing regular treatment to at-risk groups and supporting drug delivery through schools...

..Until now, information on trachoma prevalence at within country levels has not been systematically collated, analysed and reported...

..These data show that there is a high prevalence of helminth infection in Chad, but that treatment for S. haematobium and hookworm should be targeted to different geographical areas...

..Finally, the current practical application of GIS and remote sensing are reviewed in the context of national control programmes...

..In this study, we investigate spatial and household heterogeneities, predictors, and consequences of Plasmodium species and hookworm coinfection in rural communities in Uganda...

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..We examined the effect of intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) in reducing anaemia and improving classroom attention and educational achievement in semi-immune schoolchildren in an area of high perennial transmission...

..Here, we present an investigation of exposure-related risk factors as sources of heterogeneity in the distribution of co-infection with Necator americanus and Schistosoma mansoni in a region of southeastern Brazil...

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..This report presents results from a total population survey of malaria infection and intervention coverage in a rural area of eastern Uganda, with a specific focus on how risk factors differ between demographic groups in this population...

..8%. In conclusion, we suggest that host genetic relatedness is not a major determinant of infection intensity in this community, with exposure-related factors playing a greater role...

..Here we present a new approach for mapping the observed prevalence of STHs, using the example of Kenya in 2009...

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..Based on the evidence from this study an intervention strategy was formulated for all camps with reported ACL cases. This includes targeting of active cases with insecticide-treated nets, sold at a highly subsidised price...

..This process should be guided by the knowledge and experience gained during the complex emergency and a focus on malaria should be maintained until the disease is brought under control...

..e. the square of the average of square roots. As well as being more easily interpretable, the back-transformed results highlight the dependence of the repeatability on the sample volume used...

..2, 95% CI = 1.2-8.6) of A. lumbricoides infection. The findings of the study suggest that the current WHO intestinal nematode guideline of 1 ova/liter is sufficient to protect farmer health...

..Taken together with other published studies, the data suggest that malaria morbidity among school age children increases as transmission intensity decreases. The implications for malaria control are discussed...

..Results suggested similar patterns of endemicity in both Afghan refugee and Pakistani populations and highlighted risk factors and household clustering of disease...

..Using the example of Schistosoma haematobium in Africa, this article illustrates how ecozonation and receiver-operator characteristic analysis can help to assess the usefulness of available models objectively...

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..There are also on-going efforts to develop novel anthelmintic drugs and anti-hookworm vaccines...

..The present study was conducted to establish the necessary evidence-base and to stimulate interest in supporting the control of this neglected tropical disease in Uganda and Kenya...

..Concerns about the sustainability of periodic deworming with benzimidazole anthelmintics and the emergence of resistance have prompted efforts to develop and test new control tools...

..These findings provide strong support for the development of an effective recombinant vaccine against hookworm infection in humans...

..We aimed to assess the health impact of a national control programme targeting schistosomiasis and intestinal nematodes in Uganda, which has provided population-based anthelmintic chemotherapy since 2003...

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..To investigate the nutritional status of individuals from a rural area of Brazil, and associations with helminth infections in an age-stratified sample...

..Our results also support a focus on the household in the implementation of schistosomiasis prevention and control efforts...

..The results are discussed in reference to the ecology of infection and provide an epidemiological framework for the design and implementation of control efforts underway in Uganda...

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..mansoni) at 150000 and 130000 per year. Given the overall high number of cases with schistosomiasis-related disease and associated death, we conclude that schistosomiasis remains an important public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa...

..As a way forward, it is suggested that the Ministry of Health should integrate deworming into the existing health infrastructure so that every time a child is reached for any health service, the child is also de-wormed...

..The roadmap also addresses the obstacles facing development of a vaccine for developing countries, where there is no commercial market...

..Disease prevention and control are difficult because of the complexity of cutaneous leishmaniasis epizoology, and the few options available for effective vector control...

..g. tribendimidine) and a recombinant hookworm vaccine. It is hoped that, ultimately, anthelmintic vaccination will be linked to deworming as part of an expanded control package...