The performance of a point-of-care test for the diagnosis of Neurocysticercosis in a resource-poor community setting in Zambia - a diagnostic accuracy study.

Background: Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is the main cause of epilepsy in endemic rural communities. NCC diagnosis is difficult due to unavailability and unaffordability of serologic assays and neuroimaging. This study aimed to assess the performance of a cheap, novel lateral-flow point-of-care (TS POC) test for the diagnosis of NCC in a community setting.

Neurocysticercosis Prevalence and Characteristics in Communities of Sinda District in Zambia: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: This study aimed at describing the epidemiology of (neuro)cysticercosis as well as its clinical and radiological characteristics in a Taenia solium endemic district of Zambia.

Methods: This was part of a cross-sectional community-based study conducted in Sinda district to evaluate an antibody-detecting T. solium point-of-care (TS POC) test for taeniosis and (neuro)cysticercosis.

The lived experience of mental disorders in adolescents: a bottom-up review co-designed, co-conducted and co-written by experts by experience and academics.

We provide here the first bottom-up review of the lived experience of mental disorders in adolescents co-designed, co-conducted and co-written by experts by experience and academics. We screened first-person accounts within and outside the medical field, and discussed them in collaborative workshops involving numerous experts by experience - representing different genders, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and continents - and their family members and carers. Subsequently, the material was enriched by phenomenologically informed perspectives and shared with all collaborators.

District-Level Forecast of Achieving Trachoma Elimination as a Public Health Problem By 2030: An Ensemble Modelling Approach.

Assessing the feasibility of 2030 as a target date for global elimination of trachoma, and identification of districts that may require enhanced treatment to meet World Health Organization (WHO) elimination criteria by this date are key challenges in operational planning for trachoma programmes. Here we address these challenges by prospectively evaluating forecasting models of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) prevalence, leveraging ensemble-based approaches. Seven candidate probabilistic models were developed to forecast district-wise TF prevalence in 11 760 districts, trained using district-level data on the population prevalence of TF in children aged 1-9 years from 2004 to 2022.

Gaps in treatment of epileptic seizures in a Zambian rural area.

Background: Epilepsy is a multifactorial neurological disorder, including parasitic infections of the brain such as neurocysticercosis (NCC). People with epileptic seizures (PWES) in low and middle-income countries often do not receive appropriate treatment, which besides epileptic seizures, may also lead to reduced quality of life and possibly death. The objective of this study was to describe gaps in treatment of epileptic seizures in a Zambian rural area.