Publications by authors named "Zahara Salim"
Article Synopsis
- The World Health Organization recommends the use of single-dose rifampicin (SDR) for leprosy post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), potentially reducing leprosy risk by about 50% in contacts of patients.
- A Phase 2 trial tested a new PEP regimen that combines bedaquiline with rifampicin (BE-PEP) against the standard therapy (SDR-PEP), focusing on safety and QT interval changes in patients.
- The trial, involving 313 participants, demonstrated that BE-PEP did not significantly differ from SDR-PEP regarding QT interval changes after treatment, indicating comparable safety profiles between the two regimens.
Article Synopsis
- - Anti-mycobacterial drugs can cause QT interval prolongation, risking serious heart issues, but monitoring is tough in places with high rates of leprosy and tuberculosis.
- - The BE-PEOPLE trial assessed the safety of a bedaquiline regimen while measuring QT intervals before and after treatment using both mobile electrocardiogram (mECG) and standard methods.
- - Results showed that mECG is a feasible and accurate tool for QT interval tracking, with a strong correlation to traditional measurements, although automated readings were generally less precise.
Background: Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) using single-dose rifampicin reduces progression from infection with Mycobacterium leprae to leprosy disease. We compared effectiveness of different administration modalities, using a higher (20 mg/kg) dose of rifampicin-single double-dose rifampicin (SDDR)-PEP.
Methods: We did a cluster randomised study in 16 villages in Madagascar and 48 villages in Comoros.
Protocol, rationale and design of BE-PEOPLE (Bedaquiline enhanced exposure prophylaxis for LEprosy in the Comoros): a cluster randomized trial on effectiveness of rifampicin and bedaquiline as post-exposure prophylaxis of leprosy contacts.
BMC Infect Dis
May 2023
Background: Leprosy is an ancient infectious disease with an annual global incidence of around 200,000 over the past decade. Since 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends single-dose rifampicin as post-exposure prophylaxis (SDR-PEP) for contacts of leprosy patients. The Post ExpOsure Prophylaxis for Leprosy (PEOPLE) trial evaluated PEP with a double dose of rifampicin in Comoros and Madagascar.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To identify patterns of spatial clustering of leprosy.
Design: We performed a baseline survey for a trial on post-exposure prophylaxis for leprosy in Comoros and Madagascar. We screened 64 villages, door-to-door, and recorded results of screening, demographic data and geographic coordinates.
Protocol, rationale and design of PEOPLE (Post ExpOsure Prophylaxis for LEprosy in the Comoros and Madagascar): a cluster randomized trial on effectiveness of different modalities of implementation of post-exposure prophylaxis of leprosy contacts.
BMC Infect Dis
December 2019
Background: Leprosy is an ancient infectious disease with a global annual incidence that has plateaued above 200,000 new cases since over a decade. New strategies are required to overcome this stalemate. Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) with a single dose of Rifampicin (SDR) has conditionally been recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), based on a randomized-controlled-trial in Bangladesh.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The island of Anjouan (Comoros) is highly endemic for leprosy with an annual incidence of 5-10/10,000. In May/June, 2015 single-dose Rifampicin post-exposure prophylaxis (SDR-PEP) was administered to 269 close contacts of 70 leprosy-patients in four villages as a pilot programmatic intervention. Two years later we revisited the villages for follow-up investigations.
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