Progress towards elimination of onchocerciasis transmission in Mali: A "pre-stop MDA" survey in 18 transmission zones.

Background: Onchocerciasis control activities in Mali began in 1975 with vector larviciding carried out by the Onchocerciasis Control Programme (OCP), followed by the distribution of ivermectin from 1998 until the closure of the OCP in 2002. At that time, epidemiological evaluations, using skin snip microscopy and O-150 pool screening PCR in black flies, indicated that the disease had been largely controlled as a public health problem. Ivermectin distribution was nevertheless continued after 2002 in 34 of the 75 health districts in Mali as these were known to still be meso- or hyper-endemic for onchocerciasis.

Restarting Neglected Tropical Diseases Programs in West Africa during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learned and Best Practices.

Countries across West Africa began reporting COVID-19 cases in February 2020. By March, the pandemic began disrupting activities to control and eliminate neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) as health ministries ramped up COVID-19-related policies and prevention measures. This was followed by interim guidance from the WHO in April 2020 to temporarily pause mass drug administration (MDA) and community-based surveys for NTDs.

Implementation of mass drug administration for neglected tropical diseases in Guinea during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Guinea reported its first case of COVID-19 on March 12, 2020. Soon thereafter, a national state of emergency was declared, all land borders were closed, schools were shut down, and public gatherings were limited. Many health activities, including field-based activities targeting neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), were paused.

Integrated seroprevalence-based assessment of Wuchereria bancrofti and Onchocerca volvulus in two lymphatic filariasis evaluation units of Mali with the SD Bioline Onchocerciasis/LF IgG4 Rapid Test.

Background: Mali has become increasingly interested in the evaluation of transmission of both Wuchereria bancrofti and Onchocerca volvulus as prevalences of both infections move toward their respective elimination targets. The SD Bioline Onchocerciasis/LF IgG4 Rapid Test was used in 2 evaluation units (EU) to assess its performance as an integrated surveillance tool for elimination of lymphatic filariasis (LF) and onchocerciasis.

Methodology/principal Findings: A cross sectional survey with SD Bioline Onchocerciasis/LF IgG4 Rapid Test was piggy-backed onto a transmission assessment survey (TAS) (using the immunochromatographic card test (ICT) Binax Filariasis Now test for filarial adult circulating antigen (CFA) detection) for LF in Mali among 6-7 year old children in 2016 as part of the TAS in two EUs namely Kadiolo-Kolondieba in the region of Sikasso and Bafoulabe -Kita-Oussoubidiagna-Yelimane in the region of Kayes.

Factors Associated with Microfilaremia in an Endemic Area of Mali.

Although (), the causative agent of lymphatic filariasis, is endemic throughout Mali, the prevalence of microfilaremia (Mf) can vary widely between villages despite similar prevalence of infection as assessed by circulating antigen. To examine this variation, cross-sectional data obtained during screening prior to an interventional study in two neighboring villages in Mali were analyzed. The overall prevalence of , as assessed by CAg (circulating antigen), was 50.

Prevalence of trachoma in the Kayes region of Mali eight years after stopping mass drug administration.

Background: In 2009, three years after stopping mass treatment with azithromycin, a trachoma impact survey in four health districts in the Kayes region of Mali found a prevalence of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) among children aged 1 to 9 years of >5% and a trachomatous trichiasis (TT) prevalence within the general population (≥1-year-old) of <1%. As a result, the government's national trachoma program expanded trichiasis surgery and related activities required to achieve trachoma elimination.

Methodology/principal Findings: In 2015, to assess progress towards elimination, a follow-up impact survey was conducted in the Kayes, Kéniéba, Nioro and Yélimané health districts.

Dynamics of antigenemia and transmission intensity of Wuchereria bancrofti following cessation of mass drug administration in a formerly highly endemic region of Mali.

Background: After seven annual rounds of mass drug administration (MDA) in six Malian villages highly endemic for Wuchereria bancrofti (overall prevalence rate of 42.7%), treatment was discontinued in 2008. Surveillance was performed over the ensuing 5 years to detect recrudescence.

The Impact of Six Annual Rounds of Mass Drug Administration on Wuchereria bancrofti Infections in Humans and in Mosquitoes in Mali.

Wuchereria bancrofti prevalence and transmission were assessed in six endemic villages in Sikasso, Mali prior to and yearly during mass drug administration (MDA) with albendazole and ivermectin from 2002 to 2007. Microfilaremia was determined by calibrated thick smear of night blood in adult volunteers and circulating filarial antigen was measured using immunochromatographic card test in children < 5 years of age. Mosquitoes were collected by human landing catch from July to December.

Wuchereria bancrofti transmission pattern in southern Mali prior to and following the institution of mass drug administration.

Background: The Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) was launched in 2000 with the goal of stopping transmission of lymphatic filariasis (LF) through yearly mass drug administration (MDA). Although preliminary surveys of the human population in Mali suggested that Wuchereria bancrofti infection was highly endemic in the Sikasso district, baseline entomological data were required to confirm high levels of transmission prior to the selection of villages in this region for a study of the impact of MDA on transmission of LF by anopheline vectors.

Methods: W.

Filariasis attenuates anemia and proinflammatory responses associated with clinical malaria: a matched prospective study in children and young adults.

Background: Wuchereria bancrofti (Wb) and Mansonella perstans (Mp) are blood-borne filarial parasites that are endemic in many countries of Africa, including Mali. The geographic distribution of Wb and Mp overlaps considerably with that of malaria, and coinfection is common. Although chronic filarial infection has been shown to alter immune responses to malaria parasites, its effect on clinical and immunologic responses in acute malaria is unknown.

Enhancing community knowledge and health behaviors to eliminate blinding trachoma in Mali using radio messaging as a strategy.

The National Blindness Prevention Program in Mali has broadcast messages on the radio about trachoma as part of the country's trachoma elimination strategy since 2008. In 2011, a radio impact survey using multi-stage cluster sampling was conducted in the regions of Kayes and Segou to assess radio listening habits, coverage of the broadcasts, community knowledge and behavior specific to trachoma and facial cleanliness of children. Radio access and listening were high, with 60% of respondents having heard a message on the radio about trachoma.

Interferon regulatory factor modulation underlies the bystander suppression of malaria antigen-driven IL-12 and IFN-γ in filaria-malaria co-infection.

In areas where polyparasitism is highly prevalent, the impact of multiple parasites on the host response is underestimated. In particular, the presence of helminth infection coincident with malaria profoundly alters the production of malaria-specific IFN-γ, IL-12p70, CXCL9, CXCL10 and CXCL11, cytokines/chemokines known to be critical in mediating malaria-specific immunity. In order to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the suppression of malaria-specific cytokines/chemokines, we assessed the expression of malaria-specific IL-12Rβ1, IL-12Rβ2 and interferon regulatory factor (IRF)-1 in blood obtained from 18 filaria-infected (Fil(+)) and 17 filaria-uninfected (Fil(-)) individuals in a filaria-malaria co-endemic region of Mali.

Filarial infection suppresses malaria-specific multifunctional Th1 and Th17 responses in malaria and filarial coinfections.

The mechanisms underlying the modulation of both the malaria-specific immune response and the course of clinical malaria in the context of concomitant helminth infection are poorly understood. We used multiparameter flow cytometry to characterize the quality and the magnitude of malaria-specific T cell responses in filaria-infected and -uninfected individuals with concomitant asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Mali. In comparison with filarial-uninfected subjects, filarial infection was associated with higher ex vivo frequencies of CD4(+) cells producing IL-4, IL-10, and IL-17A (p = 0.

Use of high-dose, twice-yearly albendazole and ivermectin to suppress Wuchereria bancrofti microfilarial levels.

Background: Annual mass treatment with albendazole and ivermectin is the mainstay of current strategies to interrupt transmission of Wuchereria bancrofti in Africa. More-effective microfilarial suppression could potentially reduce the time necessary to interrupt transmission, easing the economic burden of mass treatment programs in countries with limited resources.

Methods: To determine the effect of increased dose and frequency of albendazole-ivermectin treatment on microfilarial clearance, 51 W.

Expanded numbers of circulating myeloid dendritic cells in patent human filarial infection reflect lower CCR1 expression.

APC dysfunction has been postulated to mediate some of the parasite-specific T cell unresponsiveness seen in patent filarial infection. We have shown that live microfilariae of Brugia malayi induce caspase-dependent apoptosis in human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DCs) in vitro. This study addresses whether apoptosis observed in vitro extends to patent filarial infections in humans and is reflected in the number of circulating myeloid DCs (mDCs; CD11c(-)CD123(lo)) in peripheral blood of infected microfilaremic individuals.

At homeostasis filarial infections have expanded adaptive T regulatory but not classical Th2 cells.

Despite the well-documented immune suppression associated with human helminth infections, studies characterizing the immune response at the single-cell level are scanty. We used multiparameter flow cytometry to characterize the type of effector (Th1, Th2, and Th17) and regulatory (natural T regulatory cells [nTregs] and adaptive Treg cells [aTreg/type 1 regulatory cells (Tr1s)]) CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells in filaria-infected (Fil(+)) and -uninfected (Fil(-)) individuals at homeostasis (in the absence of stimulation). Frequencies of CD4(+) lymphocytes spontaneously producing IL-4, IL-10, and IL-17A were significantly higher in Fil(+), as were those of IL-10(+)/IL-4(+) double-producing CD4(+) cells.

[Evaluation of the quality of prescription and dispensing of artemisinin-based therapeutic combinations in the Bamako District, Mali].

The increasingly increasing resistance of the parasites of malaria to chloroquine pushed all the African countries almost to adopt the ACTs like treatment of first intention of uncomplicated malaria. However, correct use of the ACTs proves to be imperative to guarantee their effectiveness and to even delay the spread resistant parasites to these molecules. Thus, we have conducted this study in order to assess the quality of the prescription and the dispensation of ACTs in randomly selected health centers across Bamako.

A randomized trial of doxycycline for Mansonella perstans infection.

Background: Mansonella perstans infection is common in areas of Africa where Wuchereria bancrofti, a causative agent of lymphatic filariasis, is endemic. M. perstans is refractory to standard antifilarial therapies.

Patent filarial infection modulates malaria-specific type 1 cytokine responses in an IL-10-dependent manner in a filaria/malaria-coinfected population.

The effect of filarial infections on malaria-specific immune responses was investigated in Malian villages coendemic for filariasis (Fil) and malaria. Cytokines were measured from plasma and Ag-stimulated whole blood from individuals with Wuchereria bancrofti and/or Mansonella perstans infections (Fil(+); n = 19) and those without evidence of filarial infection (Fil(-); n = 19). Plasma levels of IL-10 (geometric mean [GM], 22.