Cargando…

Feasibility of a dried blood spot strategy for serological screening and surveillance to monitor elimination of Human African Trypanosomiasis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

In recent years, the number of reported Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) cases caused by Trypanosoma brucei (T.b.) gambiense has been markedly declining, and the goal of ‘elimination as a public health problem’ is within reach. For the next stage, i.e. interruption of HAT transmission by 2030, in...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Inocencio da Luz, Raquel, Phanzu, Delphin Mavinga, Kiabanzawoko, Oscar N’lemvo, Miaka, Eric, Verlé, Paul, De Weggheleire, Anja, Büscher, Philippe, Hasker, Epco, Boelaert, Marleen
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8195376/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34115754
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009407
_version_ 1783706489055084544
author Inocencio da Luz, Raquel
Phanzu, Delphin Mavinga
Kiabanzawoko, Oscar N’lemvo
Miaka, Eric
Verlé, Paul
De Weggheleire, Anja
Büscher, Philippe
Hasker, Epco
Boelaert, Marleen
author_facet Inocencio da Luz, Raquel
Phanzu, Delphin Mavinga
Kiabanzawoko, Oscar N’lemvo
Miaka, Eric
Verlé, Paul
De Weggheleire, Anja
Büscher, Philippe
Hasker, Epco
Boelaert, Marleen
author_sort Inocencio da Luz, Raquel
collection PubMed
description In recent years, the number of reported Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) cases caused by Trypanosoma brucei (T.b.) gambiense has been markedly declining, and the goal of ‘elimination as a public health problem’ is within reach. For the next stage, i.e. interruption of HAT transmission by 2030, intensive screening and surveillance will need to be maintained, but with tools and strategies more efficiently tailored to the very low prevalence. We assessed the sequential use of ELISA and Immune Trypanolysis (ITL) on dried blood spot (DBS) samples as an alternative to the traditional HAT field testing and confirmation approach. A cross-sectional study was conducted in HAT endemic and previously endemic zones in Kongo Central province, and a non-endemic zone in Haut Katanga province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Door-to-door visits were performed to collect dried blood spot (DBS) samples on filter paper. ELISA/T.b. gambiense was conducted followed by ITL for those testing positive by ELISA and in a subset of ELISA negatives. In total, 11,642 participants were enrolled. Of these, 11,535 DBS were collected and stored in appropriate condition for ELISA testing. Ninety-seven DBS samples tested positive on ELISA. In the endemic zone, ELISA positivity was 1.34% (95%CI: 1.04–1.64). In the previously endemic zone and non-endemic zone, ELISA positivity was 0.34% (95% CI: 0.13–0.55) and 0.37% (95% CI: 0.15–0.60) respectively. Among the ELISA positives, only two samples had a positive ITL result, both from the endemic zone. One of those was from a former HAT patient treated in 2008 and the other from an individual who unfortunately had deceased prior to the follow-up visit. Our study showed that a surveillance strategy, based on DBS samples and centralized testing with retracing of patients if needed, is feasible in DRC. ELISA seems well suited as initial test with a similar positivity rate as traditional screening tests, but ITL remains complex. Alternatives for the latter, also analyzable on DBS, should be further explored.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8195376
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher Public Library of Science
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-81953762021-06-21 Feasibility of a dried blood spot strategy for serological screening and surveillance to monitor elimination of Human African Trypanosomiasis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Inocencio da Luz, Raquel Phanzu, Delphin Mavinga Kiabanzawoko, Oscar N’lemvo Miaka, Eric Verlé, Paul De Weggheleire, Anja Büscher, Philippe Hasker, Epco Boelaert, Marleen PLoS Negl Trop Dis Research Article In recent years, the number of reported Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) cases caused by Trypanosoma brucei (T.b.) gambiense has been markedly declining, and the goal of ‘elimination as a public health problem’ is within reach. For the next stage, i.e. interruption of HAT transmission by 2030, intensive screening and surveillance will need to be maintained, but with tools and strategies more efficiently tailored to the very low prevalence. We assessed the sequential use of ELISA and Immune Trypanolysis (ITL) on dried blood spot (DBS) samples as an alternative to the traditional HAT field testing and confirmation approach. A cross-sectional study was conducted in HAT endemic and previously endemic zones in Kongo Central province, and a non-endemic zone in Haut Katanga province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Door-to-door visits were performed to collect dried blood spot (DBS) samples on filter paper. ELISA/T.b. gambiense was conducted followed by ITL for those testing positive by ELISA and in a subset of ELISA negatives. In total, 11,642 participants were enrolled. Of these, 11,535 DBS were collected and stored in appropriate condition for ELISA testing. Ninety-seven DBS samples tested positive on ELISA. In the endemic zone, ELISA positivity was 1.34% (95%CI: 1.04–1.64). In the previously endemic zone and non-endemic zone, ELISA positivity was 0.34% (95% CI: 0.13–0.55) and 0.37% (95% CI: 0.15–0.60) respectively. Among the ELISA positives, only two samples had a positive ITL result, both from the endemic zone. One of those was from a former HAT patient treated in 2008 and the other from an individual who unfortunately had deceased prior to the follow-up visit. Our study showed that a surveillance strategy, based on DBS samples and centralized testing with retracing of patients if needed, is feasible in DRC. ELISA seems well suited as initial test with a similar positivity rate as traditional screening tests, but ITL remains complex. Alternatives for the latter, also analyzable on DBS, should be further explored. Public Library of Science 2021-06-11 /pmc/articles/PMC8195376/ /pubmed/34115754 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009407 Text en © 2021 Inocencio da Luz et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Inocencio da Luz, Raquel
Phanzu, Delphin Mavinga
Kiabanzawoko, Oscar N’lemvo
Miaka, Eric
Verlé, Paul
De Weggheleire, Anja
Büscher, Philippe
Hasker, Epco
Boelaert, Marleen
Feasibility of a dried blood spot strategy for serological screening and surveillance to monitor elimination of Human African Trypanosomiasis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
title Feasibility of a dried blood spot strategy for serological screening and surveillance to monitor elimination of Human African Trypanosomiasis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
title_full Feasibility of a dried blood spot strategy for serological screening and surveillance to monitor elimination of Human African Trypanosomiasis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
title_fullStr Feasibility of a dried blood spot strategy for serological screening and surveillance to monitor elimination of Human African Trypanosomiasis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
title_full_unstemmed Feasibility of a dried blood spot strategy for serological screening and surveillance to monitor elimination of Human African Trypanosomiasis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
title_short Feasibility of a dried blood spot strategy for serological screening and surveillance to monitor elimination of Human African Trypanosomiasis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
title_sort feasibility of a dried blood spot strategy for serological screening and surveillance to monitor elimination of human african trypanosomiasis in the democratic republic of the congo
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8195376/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34115754
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009407
work_keys_str_mv AT inocenciodaluzraquel feasibilityofadriedbloodspotstrategyforserologicalscreeningandsurveillancetomonitoreliminationofhumanafricantrypanosomiasisinthedemocraticrepublicofthecongo
AT phanzudelphinmavinga feasibilityofadriedbloodspotstrategyforserologicalscreeningandsurveillancetomonitoreliminationofhumanafricantrypanosomiasisinthedemocraticrepublicofthecongo
AT kiabanzawokooscarnlemvo feasibilityofadriedbloodspotstrategyforserologicalscreeningandsurveillancetomonitoreliminationofhumanafricantrypanosomiasisinthedemocraticrepublicofthecongo
AT miakaeric feasibilityofadriedbloodspotstrategyforserologicalscreeningandsurveillancetomonitoreliminationofhumanafricantrypanosomiasisinthedemocraticrepublicofthecongo
AT verlepaul feasibilityofadriedbloodspotstrategyforserologicalscreeningandsurveillancetomonitoreliminationofhumanafricantrypanosomiasisinthedemocraticrepublicofthecongo
AT deweggheleireanja feasibilityofadriedbloodspotstrategyforserologicalscreeningandsurveillancetomonitoreliminationofhumanafricantrypanosomiasisinthedemocraticrepublicofthecongo
AT buscherphilippe feasibilityofadriedbloodspotstrategyforserologicalscreeningandsurveillancetomonitoreliminationofhumanafricantrypanosomiasisinthedemocraticrepublicofthecongo
AT haskerepco feasibilityofadriedbloodspotstrategyforserologicalscreeningandsurveillancetomonitoreliminationofhumanafricantrypanosomiasisinthedemocraticrepublicofthecongo
AT boelaertmarleen feasibilityofadriedbloodspotstrategyforserologicalscreeningandsurveillancetomonitoreliminationofhumanafricantrypanosomiasisinthedemocraticrepublicofthecongo