Matthew J Burton

..Trachoma is the leading infectious cause of blindness. However, there are few data on the natural history of trachomatous trichiasis to guide program planning or that investigate its pathogenesis...

..Although trichiasis surgery can reduce the risk of blindness, retrospective data suggest that long-term recurrence rates may be high. A 4-year prospective investigation of recurrent trichiasis was conducted in The Gambia...

..Prospective studies are needed to assess the potential importance of these and other factors in progressive disease...

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..We measured the effect of mass treatment on the conjunctival burden of Chlamydia trachomatis in a Gambian community with low to medium trachoma prevalence and investigated the rate, route, and determinants of re-emergent infection...

..This study investigated the relationship between TF, C. trachomatis, and nonchlamydial bacterial infection...

..This trial investigated whether epilation is noninferior to surgery for managing minor trichiasis...

..However, epilation is widely practiced for treating minor TT (1-5 lashes touching the globe). We report the frequency and effectiveness of patient-initiated epilation and its relationship to corneal opacity...

..This study was undertaken to investigate whether trachomatous trichiasis or conjunctival scarring are associated with increased prevalence of bacterial infection...

..Trichiasis can recur after corrective surgery. We tested the hypothesis that using absorbable sutures instead of silk sutures might reduce the risk of recurrent disease among patients with major trichiasis in a randomised trial...

..This study supports the possibility that the immunofibrogenic response in scarring trachoma is partly stimulated by nonchlamydial bacterial infection, which is characterized by the expression of innate factors...

..Here we explore whether alternative, targeted approaches are effective antibiotic-sparing strategies...

..This variation in clinical phenotype is potentially important for treatment guidelines. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the range of disease type and severity encompassed by TT...

..We measured chlamydial 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) expression, a marker of chlamydial metabolic activity, in comparison with the quantitation of a chlamydial DNA target in subjects exposed to trachoma...

..The data suggest that in addition to polymorph and adaptive cellular responses, NK cells may contribute to a significant component of the conjunctival inflammatory response to chlamydial infection...

..However, only 18-66% of TT patients attend for surgery. This study analyses barriers to attendance among TT patients in Ethiopia, the country with the highest prevalence of TT in the world...

..To characterize the tissue and cellular changes found in trachomatous scarring (TS) and inflammation using in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM)...

..Its activity may be promoted either as part of the cell-mediated response or through innate pathways. It may drive a range of proinflammatory factors leading to excessive tissue damage and repair involving fibrosis...

..We present an age-structured mathematical model of trachoma transmission and disease to predict the impact of interventions on the prevalence of blinding trachoma...

..Sequence-based analysis of the multiple strains typically present in endemic communities may be informative for epidemiology, transmission, response to treatment, and understanding the host response...

..Success of antibiotic distribution programmes could depend on these groups receiving effective treatment...

..The purpose was to identify genes that are differentially expressed in the upper tarsal conjunctiva of subjects with TT...

..In this study we investigated the relationship between recurrent trichiasis and the expression of various cytokines and fibrogenic genes during a two-year follow-up period...

..To assess whether non-chlamydial bacterial infection is associated with trachomatous scarring in adults...

..We examine the principles of clinical management, treatment options, and the challenging issues of providing the quantity and quality of surgery that is needed in resource-poor settings...

..Markers indicative of T-cell response (gamma interferon, IL-4, IL-12p40, and perforin) were increased when chlamydial infection was present...

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..Genetic variation within the MMP9 gene affects in vitro MMP9 expression levels, enzymatic activity and susceptibility to various inflammatory and fibrotic conditions...

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..This has been associated with significant reductions in the prevalence of active disease over the past 20 years, but there remain a large number of people with trichiasis who are at risk of blindness...

..Where this programme has been fully implemented, it has met with some success. However, there are significant gaps in the evidence base and optimal management remains uncertain...

..3 million Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs). A key issue in producing a reliable estimate of the global burden of trachoma is the limited amount of reliable survey data from endemic regions...

..Despite an extensive integrated eye care worker training programme (IECW) and robust support for TT surgical services, productivity has not reached targets. We investigated why surgeon productivity was below target...

..Routes of transmission remain unclear. In this study, the relationship between Chlamydia trachomatis Amplicor-positive nasal discharge and Amplicor-positive ocular swabs was investigated (Amplicor; Roche, Indianapolis, IN)...