Epidemiology of Lymphatic Filariasis Antigen and Microfilaria in Samoa, 2019: 7-9 Months Post Triple-Drug Mass Administration.

The elimination of lymphatic filariasis (LF) as a public health problem remains an ongoing challenge in the Pacific region. This study reports on antigen (Ag) and microfilaria (Mf) prevalence in Samoa in 2019, 7-9 months after the completion of the first round of triple-drug mass drug administration (MDA). It evaluates the effectiveness of the intervention for reducing Ag prevalence to below a 2% threshold, and how this differs between 5-9-year-olds and ≥10-year-olds.

Seroepidemiology of human leptospirosis in the Dominican Republic: A multistage cluster survey, 2021.

Little is known about the epidemiology of leptospirosis in the Dominican Republic, the second most populous country in the Caribbean. We report on findings from a multi-stage household survey across two regions in the country that reveals a previously under-estimated burden of human Leptospira infection. Our findings, based on the reference-standard microscopic agglutination test, indicate a complex picture of serogroup diversity, spatial heterogeneity in infection and risk, and a marked discrepancy between reported cases and serologically estimated infections.

Chikungunya Outbreak Risks after the 2014 Outbreak, Dominican Republic.

The 2014 chikungunya outbreak in the Dominican Republic resulted in intense local transmission, with high postoutbreak seroprevalence. The resulting population immunity will likely minimize risk for another large outbreak through 2035, but changes in population behavior or environmental conditions or emergence of different virus strains could lead to increased transmission.

Rain Gardens and Rain Gauges: Students Get Hands on With Data While Evaluating Green Infrastructure at Their School.

Two modules were designed for high school science students to investigate the performance of a rain garden installed on school property. The rain garden, a green infrastructure system which allows soil infiltration, was installed to reduce impacts to urban streams and can increase the community's resilience to flooding. By involving students in the analysis of this mitigation strategy, students learned new technical skills, gained varied experiences in collecting and analyzing data, were exposed to new STEM careers, and learned about local issues that impact their community while collaborating with local professionals.

Anti-filarial antibodies are sensitive indicators of lymphatic filariasis transmission and enable identification of high-risk populations and hotspots.

Objectives: Circulating filarial antigen (Ag) is used by elimination programs to monitor lymphatic filariasis (LF) transmission; however, antifilarial antibodies (Ab) may be more sensitive than Ag for detecting LF. Our objectives were to describe Ab seroprevalence, identify risk factors for Ab seropositivity, investigate age-specific associations between Ag and Ab, and evaluate geographic clustering of seropositivity.

Methods: Community-based serosurveys of participants aged ≥5 years were conducted in 35 primary sampling units (PSUs).

Measuring what matters: Context-specific indicators for assessing immunisation performance in Pacific Island Countries and Areas.

Increasing countries' access to data can improve immunisation coverage through evidence-based decision-making. However, data collection and reporting is resource-intensive, so needs to be pragmatic, especially in low-and-middle-income countries. We aimed to identify which indicators are most important for measuring, and improving, national immunisation performance in Pacific Island Countries (PICs).

Ongoing transmission of lymphatic filariasis in Samoa 4.5 years after one round of triple-drug mass drug administration.

Background: Lymphatic filariasis (LF) remains a significant global issue. To eliminate LF as a public health problem, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends multiple rounds of mass drug administration (MDA). In certain scenarios, including when elimination targets have not been met with two-drug MDA, triple-drug MDA (using ivermectin, diethylcarbamazine and albendazole) is recommended.

Trust and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the Dominican Republic: a national cross-sectional household survey, June-October 2021.

Objective: This study investigates the role of trust in shaping COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in the Dominican Republic (DR) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design: Cross-sectional household survey.

Setting: Randomly selected households across 134 clusters in the DR, from 30 June 2021 to 12 October 2021.

Coccidioidomycosis-Related Hospital Visits, Texas, USA, 2016-2021.

We analyzed hospital discharge records of patients with coccidioidomycosis-related codes from the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision, Clinical Modification, to estimate the prevalence of hospital visits associated with the disease in Texas, USA. Using Texas Health Care Information Collection data for 2016-2021, we investigated the demographic characteristics and geographic distribution of the affected population, assessed prevalence of hospital visits for coccidioidomycosis, and examined how prevalence varied by demographic and geographic factors. In Texas, 709 coccidioidomycosis-related inpatient and outpatient hospital visits occurred in 2021; prevalence was 3.

Scabies prevalence after ivermectin-based mass drug administration for lymphatic filariasis, Samoa 2018-2019.

Background: Scabies is a common skin infestation caused by the Sarcoptes scabei mite. Ivermectin, one of three drugs used in mass drug administration (MDA) for lymphatic filariasis, is also effective for treating scabies. Ivermectin-based MDA was first conducted in Samoa in August 2018, with ivermectin being offered to those aged ≥5 years.

A decision support tool for risk-benefit analysis of Japanese encephalitis vaccine in travellers.

Background: During pre-travel consultations, clinicians and travellers face the challenge of weighing the risks verus benefits of Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccination due to the high cost of the vaccine, low incidence in travellers (~1 in 1 million), but potentially severe consequences (~30% case-fatality rate). Personalised JE risk assessment based on the travellers' demographics and travel itinerary is challenging using standard risk matrices. We developed an interactive digital tool to estimate risks of JE infection and severe health outcomes under different scenarios to facilitate shared decision-making between clinicians and travellers.

Mapping the risk of respiratory infections using suburban district areas in a large city in Colombia.

Background: Acute respiratory infections (ARI) in Cúcuta -Colombia, have a comparatively high burden of disease associated with high public health costs. However, little is known about the epidemiology of these diseases in the city and its distribution within suburban areas. This study addresses this gap by estimating and mapping the risk of ARI in Cúcuta and identifying the most relevant risk factors.

Being Bayesian in the 2020s: opportunities and challenges in the practice of modern applied Bayesian statistics.

Building on a strong foundation of philosophy, theory, methods and computation over the past three decades, Bayesian approaches are now an integral part of the toolkit for most statisticians and data scientists. Whether they are dedicated Bayesians or opportunistic users, applied professionals can now reap many of the benefits afforded by the Bayesian paradigm. In this paper, we touch on six modern opportunities and challenges in applied Bayesian statistics: intelligent data collection, new data sources, federated analysis, inference for implicit models, model transfer and purposeful software products.

Epidemiology of cruciate ligament reconstruction in the Australian Defence Force and predictors of outcome.

Background: The ability to predict the risk of poor outcome following knee cruciate ligament reconstruction in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) population would help direct individual rehabilitation programmes and workforce planning. This study describes the epidemiology of cruciate ligament reconstruction in the ADF and demonstrates the use of Bayesian networks (BN) to predict the likelihood of fitness for ongoing service under different scenarios.

Methods: Members who had knee cruciate ligament reconstruction through ADF were identified from billing data and matched to electronic medical records to extract demographic and clinical data.

Spatially Explicit Environmental Factors Associated with Lymphatic Filariasis Infection in American Samoa.

Under the Global Program to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) American Samoa conducted seven rounds of mass drug administration (MDA) between 2000 and 2006. Subsequently, the territory passed the WHO recommended school-based transmission assessment survey (TAS) in 2011/2012 (TAS-1) and 2015 (TAS-2) but failed in 2016, when both TAS-3 and a community survey found LF antigen prevalence above what it had been in previous surveys. This study aimed to identify potential environmental drivers of LF to refine future surveillance efforts to detect re-emergence and recurrence.

Guidelines for selecting an appropriate currency in biodiversity offset transactions.

When designing biodiversity offset transactions, selecting the appropriate currency for measuring losses and gains to biodiversity is crucial. Poorly designed currencies reduce the likelihood that the proposed offset will sufficiently compensate for the development impact on the affected biota. We present a framework for identifying appropriate offset currencies for terrestrial biodiversity features, either vegetation communities or particular species.

Evaluating Molecular Xenomonitoring as a Tool for Lymphatic Filariasis Surveillance in Samoa, 2018-2019.

Molecular xenomonitoring (MX), the detection of filarial DNA in mosquitoes using molecular methods (PCR), is a potentially useful surveillance strategy for lymphatic filariasis (LF) elimination programs. Delay in filarial antigen (Ag) clearance post-treatment is a limitation of using human surveys to provide an early indicator of the impact of mass drug administration (MDA), and MX may be more useful in this setting. We compared prevalence of infected mosquitoes pre- and post-MDA (2018 and 2019) in 35 primary sampling units (PSUs) in Samoa, and investigated associations between the presence of PCR-positive mosquitoes and Ag-positive humans.

A Bayesian network analysis quantifying risks versus benefits of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in Australia.

The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is associated with increased myocarditis incidence. Constantly evolving evidence regarding incidence and case fatality of COVID-19 and myocarditis related to infection or vaccination, creates challenges for risk-benefit analysis of vaccination. Challenges are complicated further by emerging evidence of waning vaccine effectiveness, and variable effectiveness against variants.

Bayesian Network Analysis of Lymphatic Filariasis Serology from Myanmar Shows Benefit of Adding Antibody Testing to Post-MDA Surveillance.

The elimination of lymphatic filariasis (LF) is achieved through repeated mass drug administration (MDA) of anti-filarial medications, which interrupts transmission and prevents new infections. Accurate transmission assessments are critical to deciding when to stop MDA. Current methods for evaluating transmission may be insufficiently sensitive, resulting in post-MDA resurgence.