Publications by authors named "S Jean O'Neal"
Mercury, a potent toxin that poses serious risks to human health, particularly for pregnant women and young children, is widely present due to artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM), which impacts water quality. The objective of this study was to evaluate methylmercury exposure among pregnant women in communities downstream from ASGM sites. We characterized hair total mercury (THg) concentrations among 148 pregnant women across 24 communities in the Tumbes region of Peru, downstream from ASGM sites in Ecuador.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Mass drug administration (MDA) with niclosamide (NSM) can be used to control taeniasis, the cause of neurocysticercosis. NSM is 84.3% effective against taeniasis and is considered safe as it is not absorbed from the intestinal tract.
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- - Neurocysticercosis is a significant parasitic disease, and diagnosing it often requires neuroimaging, which can be hard to access in poor rural areas.
- - A new, quick point-of-care (POC) test was developed to detect urinary antigens, improving diagnosis by identifying individuals who need further imaging.
- - The POC assay showed a 73.6% overall agreement with the standard Ag-ELISA, performing especially well in nonreactive and positive sample groups, making it a practical and noninvasive option for community screening.
Background: Geographically targeted Taenia solium ring approaches consisting of treating individuals within a radius of 100-meter of a cysticercosis positive pig have been trialled in Peru. This study explored if a similar approach could be proposed to control T. solium transmission in a post elimination setting in Zambia, focussing on community members' willingness to be sampled and treated.
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