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  1. Fulltext Evaluation of the Diagnostic Performance of Recombinant Antigen B1 for Detection of Cystic Echinococcosis Using Lateral Flow Dipstick Test
    Noordin R, Khanbabaie S, Hafiznur Yunus M, Marti H, Nickel B, Fasihi Harandi M, et al.
    Iran J Parasitol, 2020 10 22;15(3):290-298.
    PMID: 33082792 DOI: 10.18502/ijpa.v15i3.4191
    Background: Human echinococcosis is a neglected zoonotic disease distributed worldwide. It comprises cystic and alveolar forms, the former being the more prevalent disease. Imaging techniques are the first choice for diagnosis of cystic echinococcosis and serology is used as an additional diagnostic technique in doubtful cases or as the sole test in low-resource settings. Rapid diagnostic tests are useful and convenient for immunodiagnosis of cystic echinococcosis in endemic areas, where medical facilities often struggle with limited resources.

    Methods: Recently, we have developed Hyd Rapid™, an IgG4 lateral flow dipstick test using recombinant antigen B1 for detection of cystic echinococcosis. This study was performed between 2016 until 2018 at the Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine, Universiti Sains Malaysia. The diagnostic performance of Hyd Rapid™ was tested in-house and at two international laboratories in Switzerland and Iran.

    Results: The overall diagnostic sensitivity for detection of cystic and alveolar echinococcosis was 95% (56/59). Meanwhile, the diagnostic specificity, with and without exclusion of cysticercosis and fascioliasis, was 100% (n=48) and 88% (63/72), respectively.

    Conclusion: Hyd Rapid™ detected cystic echinococcosis as well as probable cases of alveolar echinococcosis. Therefore, Hyd Rapid™ showed good potential as a serological tool for echinococcosis, and merits further evaluation.

  2. Fulltext Predicting the environmental suitability for onchocerciasis in Africa as an aid to elimination planning
    Cromwell EA, Osborne JCP, Unnasch TR, Basáñez MG, Gass KM, Barbre KA, et al.
    PLoS Negl Trop Dis, 2021 Jul;15(7):e0008824.
    PMID: 34319976 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0008824
    Recent evidence suggests that, in some foci, elimination of onchocerciasis from Africa may be feasible with mass drug administration (MDA) of ivermectin. To achieve continental elimination of transmission, mapping surveys will need to be conducted across all implementation units (IUs) for which endemicity status is currently unknown. Using boosted regression tree models with optimised hyperparameter selection, we estimated environmental suitability for onchocerciasis at the 5 × 5-km resolution across Africa. In order to classify IUs that include locations that are environmentally suitable, we used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis to identify an optimal threshold for suitability concordant with locations where onchocerciasis has been previously detected. This threshold value was then used to classify IUs (more suitable or less suitable) based on the location within the IU with the largest mean prediction. Mean estimates of environmental suitability suggest large areas across West and Central Africa, as well as focal areas of East Africa, are suitable for onchocerciasis transmission, consistent with the presence of current control and elimination of transmission efforts. The ROC analysis identified a mean environmental suitability index of 0·71 as a threshold to classify based on the location with the largest mean prediction within the IU. Of the IUs considered for mapping surveys, 50·2% exceed this threshold for suitability in at least one 5 × 5-km location. The formidable scale of data collection required to map onchocerciasis endemicity across the African continent presents an opportunity to use spatial data to identify areas likely to be suitable for onchocerciasis transmission. National onchocerciasis elimination programmes may wish to consider prioritising these IUs for mapping surveys as human resources, laboratory capacity, and programmatic schedules may constrain survey implementation, and possibly delaying MDA initiation in areas that would ultimately qualify.
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