21 Oct 2024 – Below we feature a compilation of headlines, scientific articles, and technical reports on innovations, R&D and elimination progress towards polio, malaria, onchocerciasis, and lymphatic filariasis. We will be publishing these updates bi-weekly and hope they are useful.

Diagnostic testing and treatment

  • Efficacy and Safety of Adding 6 Weeks of Doxycycline to the Essential Package of Care to Treat Filarial Lymphedema: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Controlled Trial in Southern India – Link
  • Evaluation of a novel biplex rapid diagnostic test for antibody responses to Loa loa and Onchocerca volvulus infections – Link

Data

  • Evaluating Geospatial Sampling Frames with a Novel Field Census for a Malaria Household Survey in Artibonite, Haiti – Link

Surveillance

  • Towards transforming malaria vector surveillance using VectorBrain: a novel convolutional neural network for mosquito species, sex, and abdomen status identifications – Link
  • Molecular xenomonitoring reveals Anopheles funestus and An. rivulorum as the primary vectors of lymphatic filariasis in coastal Kenya – Link
  • New genomic surveillance tools could help efforts to eliminate damaging parasitic infections – Link | Link to Paper

Elimination progress

  • Indonesia launches final push to eliminate lymphatic filariasis, leprosy and yaws – Link
  • Elimination of lymphatic filariasis as a public health problem in Timor-Leste – Link
  • Three African countries have eliminated malaria. What’s stopping the others? – Link
  • Global programme to eliminate lymphatic filariasis: progress report, 2023 – Link
  • New report highlights progress and challenges in fighting neglected tropical diseases in Francophone countries – Link

Climate and Health

  • A global mathematical model of climatic suitability for Plasmodium falciparum malaria – Link
  • WHO and the Netherlands renew their partnership on climate change and health – Link

Other

  • Adherence to hygiene protocols and doxycycline therapy in ameliorating Lymphatic Filariasis morbidity in an endemic area post-interruption of disease transmission in Ghana – Link
  • Integrated histological and molecular analysis of filarial species and associated Wolbachia endosymbionts in human filariasis cases presenting atypically in Thailand – Link
  • Persistent transmission of onchocerciasis in Kwanware-Ottou focus in Wenchi health district, Ghana – Link
  • The First Regional Technical Advisory Group (RTAG) Meeting for Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) Elimination Programme in South-East Asia – Link
  • WORMWARTS! – Worms go viral – Warts n’all – Link
  • Poliovirus potentially infectious material (PIM) and Bangladesh’s work to minimize risk – Link
  • Malaria co-infection slowed diagnosis of marburg in Rwanda – Link | Link to Paper
  • Epilepsy in the Onchocerciasis endemic area of Deim Zubeir, South Sudan: a household survey – Link
  • Scientists take a major step in understanding how to stop the transmission of malaria – Link
  • Essential vector-disease resource faces shutdown without funding – Link