Epidemiological modelling for monitoring and evaluation of lymphatic filariasis control.

Monitoring and evaluation are critically important to the scientific management of any parasite control programme. If a management action is prescribed, monitoring plays a pivotal role in assessing the effectiveness of implemented actions, identifying necessary adaptations for management and determining when management objectives are achieved. Here, we focus on the control of the vector-borne parasitic disease, lymphatic filariasis, to show how mathematical models of parasite transmission can provide a scientific framework for supporting the optimal design of parasite control monitoring programmes by their ability to (1) enable the estimation of endpoint targets, (2) provide information on expected trends in infection due to interventions to allow rational evaluation of intervention effectiveness and calculation of the frequency of monitoring, (3) support the selection of indicators that permit reliable and statistically powerful measurement of the effects of interventions while minimizing costs and sampling intensity and (4) aid the interpretation of monitoring data for improving programme management and knowledge of the population dynamics of parasite control.

Bancroftian filariasis: house-to-house variation in the vectors and transmission -- and the relationship to human infection -- in an endemic community of coastal Tanzania.

The house-to-house variation in Wuchereria bancrofti vector abundance and transmission intensity, and the relationship of these parameters to human infection, were investigated in an endemic community in coastal Tanzania. Vector mosquitoes were collected in light traps set up in 50 randomly selected households once weekly for 1 year. They were identified, dissected and checked for filarial larvae.

Implication of diethylcarbamazine induced morbidity and the role of cellular responses associated with bancroftian filariasis pathologies.

Pre and post-diethylcarbamazine treatment clinical expression, microfilaraemia prevalence and cellular responses were investigated in individuals in Tanga, Tanzania. Fifty-seven male individuals (aged = 15 years old) were identified for further studies on IL-4, IL-6, IL-8. IFN-gamma, IL-beta, TNF-alpha and nitric oxide in plasma and hydrocoele fluid.

Mathematical models and lymphatic filariasis control: monitoring and evaluating interventions.

Monitoring and evaluation are crucially important to the scientific management of any mass parasite control programme. Monitoring enables the effectiveness of implemented actions to be assessed and necessary adaptations to be identified; it also determines when management objectives are achieved. Parasite transmission models can provide a scientific template for informing the optimal design of such monitoring programmes.