Case detection delay in leprosy: Testing tool reliability and measurement consistency in Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Tanzania.

Background: Case detection delay (CDD) in leprosy is defined as the period between the onset of the first signs and symptoms and the time of diagnosis. A tool, consisting of a questionnaire and a detailed guide for researchers, which includes photos of typical skin signs and notes on establishing the timing of events, was developed to determine this period of delay in months in recently diagnosed leprosy patients. The aims of the study were to determine the reliability and consistency of this CDD assessment tool.

The PEP++ study protocol: a cluster-randomised controlled trial on the effectiveness of an enhanced regimen of post-exposure prophylaxis for close contacts of persons affected by leprosy to prevent disease transmission.

Background: Leprosy is an infectious disease with a slow decline in global annual caseload in the past two decades. Active case finding and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) with a single dose of rifampicin (SDR) are recommended by the World Health Organization as measures for leprosy elimination. However, more potent PEP regimens are needed to increase the effect in groups highest at risk (i.

The roles of the general practitioner and sexual health centre in HIV testing: comparative insights and impact on HIV incidence rates in the Rotterdam area, the Netherlands - a cross-sectional population-based study.

Background: Access to HIV testing is crucial for detection, linkage to treatment, and prevention. In less urbanised areas, reliance on general practitioners (GPs) for HIV testing is probable, as sexual health centres (SHC) are mostly located within urbanised areas. Limited insight into individuals undergoing HIV testing stems from sparse standard registration of demographics at GPs.

The value of manual backward contact tracing to control COVID-19 in practice, the Netherlands, February to March 2021: a pilot study.

BackgroundContact tracing has been a key component of COVID-19 outbreak control. Backward contact tracing (BCT) aims to trace the source that infected the index case and, thereafter, the cases infected by the source. Modelling studies have suggested BCT will substantially reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission in addition to forward contact tracing.

Testing for sexually transmitted infection: who and where? A data linkage study using population and provider data in the Rotterdam area, the Netherlands.

Background: In the Netherlands, insight into sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing and characteristics of those tested by general practitioners (GPs) and sexual health centres (SHC) is limited. This is partly due to lacking registration of socio-demographics at GPs. We aimed to fill this gap by linking different registers.

Area-based comparison of risk factors and testing rates to improve sexual health care access: cross-sectional population-based study in a Dutch multicultural area.

Objectives: Areas with high sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing rates may not require additional strategies to improve testing. However, it may be necessary to intervene in areas with elevated STI risk, but with low STI testing rates. We aimed to compare STI-related risk profiles and STI testing rates by geographical area to determine areas for improvement of sexual healthcare access.

Establishing a standard method for analysing case detection delay in leprosy using a Bayesian modelling approach.

Background: Leprosy is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae and remains a source of preventable disability if left undetected. Case detection delay is an important epidemiological indicator for progress in interrupting transmission and preventing disability in a community. However, no standard method exists to effectively analyse and interpret this type of data.

Finding Yaws among Indigenous People: Lessons from Case Detection Surveys in Luzon and Visayas Island Groups of the Philippines.

Yaws is a chronic, highly contagious skin and bone infection caused by Treponema pallidum subspecies pertenue, usually affecting children in impoverished and remote communities. Yaws lesions have thick yellow crusts on pink papillomas that ulcerate and leave deep scars. Yaws cases were confirmed in the Liguasan Marsh, Mindanao Island group, Southern Philippines, in 2017, but there were no cases confirmed in the Luzon and Visayas Island groups.

Identifying clusters of leprosy patients in India: A comparison of methods.

Background: Preventive interventions with post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) are needed in leprosy high-endemic areas to interrupt the transmission of Mycobacterium leprae. Program managers intend to use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to target preventive interventions considering efficient use of public health resources. Statistical GIS analyses are commonly used to identify clusters of disease without accounting for the local context.

Perspectives of Immigrants and Native Dutch on Antibiotic Use: A Qualitative Study.

Immigrants constitute large proportions of the population in many high-income countries. Knowledge about their perceptions of antibiotics, in comparison to native populations, is limited. We explored these perceptions by organizing nine homogeneous focus group discussions (FGDs) with first-generation immigrant and native Dutch participants (N = 64) from Rotterdam and Utrecht, who were recruited with the assistance of immigrant (community support) organizations.

Less is more: Developing an approach for assessing clustering at the lower administrative boundaries that increases the yield of active screening for leprosy in Bihar, India.

Background: In India, leprosy clusters at hamlet level but detailed information is lacking. We aim to identify high-incidence hamlets to be targeted for active screening and post-exposure prophylaxis.

Methodology: We paid home visits to a cohort of leprosy patients registered between April 1st, 2020, and March 31st, 2022.

Delayed detection of leprosy cases: A systematic review of healthcare-related factors.

Background: In new leprosy cases, grade 2 disability (G2D) is still a public health burden worldwide. It is often associated with the delayed leprosy diagnoses that healthcare systems should play a crucial role in preventing. The aim of this systematic review was to identify healthcare factors related to delays in case detection in leprosy.

Stigma, psychosocial and economic effects of yaws in the Philippines: an exploratory, qualitative study.

Background: Yaws is a chronic, non-venereal, highly contagious skin and bone infection affecting children living in impoverished, remote communities and caused by Treponema pallidum subspecie pertenue. Social stigma and economic losses due to yaws have been reported anecdotally in the Southern Philippines but have not been well-documented.

Objective: To describe and compare the psychological, social, and economic effects of yaws from the perspective of patients, contacts, and key informants in two areas of the Philippines.

Yaws in the Philippines: A clinico-seroprevalence study of selected communities in Mindanao.

Background: Yaws is a chronic, highly contagious skin and bone infection affecting children living in impoverished, remote communities. It is caused by Treponema pallidum subsp. pertenue.

Strategies to promote the use of online health applications for early detection and raising awareness of chronic diseases among members of the general public: A systematic literature review.

Introduction: Engagement is essential to achieve intended outcomes of online interventions, but achieving such engagement is a key challenge for many researchers and practitioners. This systematic literature review aims to identify strategies and tools to promote the use of online health interventions for early detection and raising awareness of chronic diseases among the public, and to investigate the evidence regarding the effectiveness of such strategies.

Materials And Methods: We performed a systematic search of seven electronic databases: Embase, Medline All Ovid, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PsycINFO, CINAHL and Google Scholar.

A sharp decrease in reported non-COVID-19 notifiable infectious diseases during the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in the Rotterdam region, the Netherlands: a descriptive study.

Background: The Public Health Services in the Rotterdam region, the Netherlands, observed a substantial decrease of non-COVID-19 notifiable infectious diseases and institutional outbreaks during the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic. We describe this change from mid-March to mid-October 2020 by comparing with the pre-COVID-19 situation.

Methods: All cases of notifiable diseases and institutional outbreaks reported to the Public Health Services Rotterdam-Rijnmond between 1st January and mid-October 2020 were included.

Leprosy and cutaneous leishmaniasis affecting the same individuals: A retrospective cohort analysis in a hyperendemic area in Brazil.

Background: Leprosy and cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) are neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) affecting the skin. Their control is challenging but the integration of skin NTDs control programs is recommended to improve timely detection and treatment. However, little is known about the occurrence of leprosy and CL in the same individuals, and what are the characteristics of such patients.

BCG-induced immunity profiles in household contacts of leprosy patients differentiate between protection and disease.

Leprosy is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae leading to irreversible disabilities along with social exclusion. Leprosy is a spectral disease for which the clinical outcome after M. leprae infection is determined by host factors.

Reducing antibiotic prescribing by enhancing communication of general practitioners with their immigrant patients: protocol for a randomised controlled trial (PARCA study).

Introduction: Although antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance in the Netherlands is comparatively low, inappropriate prescription of antibiotics is substantial, mainly for respiratory tract infections (RTIs). General practitioners (GPs) experience pressure from patients with an immigration background to prescribe antibiotics and have difficulty communicating in a culturally sensitive way. Multifaceted interventions including communication skills training for GPs are shown to be most effective in reducing antibiotic prescription.

Distance as explanatory factor for sexual health centre utilization: an urban population-based study in the Netherlands.

Background: The central sexual health centre (SHC) in the greater Rotterdam area in the Netherlands helps finding people unaware of their STI/HIV status. We aimed to determine a possible association between SHC utilization and travel distance in this urban and infrastructure-rich area. Insight in area-specific utilization helps adjust outreach policies to enhance STI testing.

Measuring endemicity and burden of leprosy across countries and regions: A systematic review and Delphi survey.

Background: Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, the annual new case detection in 2019 was 202,189 globally. Measuring endemicity levels and burden in leprosy lacks a uniform approach. As a result, the assessment of leprosy endemicity or burden are not comparable over time and across countries and regions.