Publications by authors named "M W Hsiang"
Background: In Africa, the scale-up of malaria-control interventions has reduced malaria burden, but progress towards elimination has stalled. Mass drug administration (MDA) is promising as a transmission-reducing strategy, but evidence from low-to-moderate transmission settings is needed. We aimed to assess the safety, coverage, and effect of three cycles of MDA with dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine plus single, low-dose primaquine on Plasmodium falciparum incidence and prevalence in southeast Senegal.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Measuring neurocognitive functioning in children requires validated, age-appropriate instruments that are adapted to the local cultural and linguistic context. We sought to evaluate the usability and psychometric properties of five tools that assess general intelligence, executive functioning, and sustained attention among Tanzanian children.
Methods: We adapted five age-appropriate neurocognitive assessment batteries from previously published assessment materials to the Tanzanian context.
Article Synopsis
- - The study investigated how long malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) and ultra-sensitive RDT (uRDT) remained positive after treatment in a low transmission area in Namibia, finding an average positivity duration of 42 days for RDT and 67 days for uRDT.
- - Factors such as younger age, higher initial parasite density, and persistent parasitemia were linked to longer test positivity, indicating that the usual explanations for lingering positive results, like drug resistance, did not apply.
- - These prolonged positivity durations highlight challenges in using RDTs and uRDTs for accurately identifying current infections in low transmission settings, as they might reflect residual parasite DNA rather than active infection.
Background: () is the predominant malaria species in countries approaching elimination. In the context of climate change, understanding environmental drivers of transmission can guide interventions, yet evidence is limited, particularly in Latin America.
Objectives: We estimated the association between temperature and precipitation and malaria incidence in a malaria elimination setting in Peru.
Laboratory benchmarking allows objective analysis of the analytical performance of malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs). We present the analytical detection limits of the Rapigen BIOCREDIT Malaria Ag Pf/Pv (pLDH/pLDH), the Rapigen BIOCREDIT Malaria Ag Pf (pLDH/HRPII), and two best-in-class WHO-prequalified comparator RDTs, generated using standardized panels containing recombinant antigen, in vitro cultured parasites, international standards, and clinical samples. Detection limit antigen concentrations of HRP2, PfLDH, and PvLDH were determined for the Rapigen and comparator RDTs.
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