ArticleParasites & vectors2016
Modelling Neglected Tropical Diseases diagnostics: the sensitivity of skin snips for Onchocerca volvulus in near elimination and surveillance settings.
Article in Parasites & vectors, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of a single dose of 8 mg moxidectin or 150 μg/kg ivermectin on O. volvulus skin microfilariae in a randomized trial: Differences between areas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia and Ghana and impact of intensity of infection.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Trial
- Modelling anti-Ov16 seroprevalence for the control and elimination of onchocerciasis.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Declining Onchocerca volvulus transmission despite limited ivermectin delivery in the Kakoi-Koda focus, Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo: An epidemiological, entomological and landscape evidence synthesis.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Article
- Onchocerca volvulus infection prevalence and intensity in Logo and Nyarambe Health Zones in Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2010 and in 2021-2023: results of screening for clinical trials of moxidectin versus ivermectin.Parasites & vectors · 2026Article
- Usability, acceptability, and cost of the SD BIOLINE Ov16 rapid diagnostic test for onchocerciasis surveillance in endemic communities in the middle belt of Ghana.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Model-Based Geostatistical Mapping of the Prevalence of Onchocerca volvulus in Cameroon between 1971 and 2020.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Chorioretinitis among Immigrant and Travellers. Comment on Mansour et al. Presumed Onchocerciasis Chorioretinitis Spilling over into North America, Europe and Middle East.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- How correlations between treatment access and surveillance inclusion impact neglected tropical disease monitoring and evaluation-A simulated study.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2023Article
- Application of loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assays for the detection ofFrontiers in tropical diseases · 2023Article
- Unusual Localization of Blood-Borne Loa loa Microfilariae in the Skin Depends on Microfilarial Density in the Blood: Implications for Onchocerciasis Diagnosis in Coendemic Areas.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2021Article
- In Silico Design and Validation of OvMANE1, a Chimeric Antigen for Human Onchocerciasis Diagnosis.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- Loa loa Microfilariae in Skin Snips: Consequences for Onchocerciasis Monitoring and Evaluation in L. loa-Endemic Areas.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2019Article
- Translating preventive chemotherapy prevalence thresholds for Schistosoma mansoni from the Kato-Katz technique into the point-of-care circulating cathodic antigen diagnostic test.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2018Article
- Substantiating freedom from parasitic infection by combining transmission model predictions with disease surveys.Nature communications · 2018Article
- Evaluation of an OV-16 IgG4 Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay in Humans and Its Application to Determine the Dynamics of Antibody Responses in a Non-Human Primate Model ofThe American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2018Article
- How Can Onchocerciasis Elimination in Africa Be Accelerated? Modeling the Impact of Increased Ivermectin Treatment Frequency and Complementary Vector Control.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2018Article
- Important progress towards elimination of onchocerciasis in the West Region of Cameroon.Parasites & vectors · 2017Article
- Metabolite profiling of infection-associated metabolic markers of onchocerciasis.Molecular and biochemical parasitology · 2017Article
- Genome-wide analysis of ivermectin response by Onchocerca volvulus reveals that genetic drift and soft selective sweeps contribute to loss of drug sensitivity.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2017Article
- Response to the Letter to the Editor by Eberhard et al.Parasites & vectors · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
9 authors at 8 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control has proposed provisional thresholds for the prevalence of microfilariae in humans and of L3 larvae in blackflies, below which mass drug administration (MDA) with ivermectin can be stopped and surveillance started. Skin snips are currently the gold standard test for detecting patent Onchocerca volvulus infection, and the World Health Organization recommends their use to monitor progress of treatment programmes (but not to verify elimination). However, if they are used (in transition and in parallel to Ov-16 serology), sampling protocols should be designed to demonstrate that programmatic goals have been reached. The sensitivity of skin snips is key to the design of such protocols.
methodsWe develop a mathematical model for the number of microfilariae in a skin snip and parameterise it using data from Guatemala, Venezuela, Ghana and Cameroon collected before the start of ivermectin treatment programmes. We use the model to estimate sensitivity as a function of time since last treatment, number of snips taken, microfilarial aggregation and female worm fertility after exposure to 10 annual rounds of ivermectin treatment.
resultsThe sensitivity of the skin snip method increases with time after treatment, with most of the increase occurring between 0 and 5 years. One year after the last treatment, the sensitivity of two skin snips taken from an individual infected with a single fertile female worm is 31 % if there is no permanent effect of multiple ivermectin treatments on fertility; 18 % if there is a 7 % reduction per treatment, and 0.6 % if there is a 35 % reduction. At 5 years, the corresponding sensitivities are 76 %, 62 % and 4.7 %. The sensitivity improves significantly if 4 skin snips are taken: in the absence of a permanent effect of ivermectin, the sensitivity of 4 skin snips is 53 % 1 year and 94 % 5 years after the last treatment.
conclusionsOur model supports the timelines proposed by APOC for post-MDA follow-up and surveillance surveys every 3-5 years. Two skin snips from the iliac region have reasonable sensitivity to detect residual infection, but the sensitivity can be significantly improved by taking 4 snips. The costs and benefits of using four versus two snips should be evaluated.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.