ArticlePloS one2018
Cost-effectiveness of using a rapid diagnostic test to screen for human African trypanosomiasis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sensitivity and specificity of HAT Bioline AbbottParasites & vectors · 2026Article
- Transforming the chemotherapy of human African trypanosomiasis.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2025Review
- Health economic evaluation of strategies to eliminate gambiense human African trypanosomiasis in the Mandoul disease focus of Chad.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2023Article
- Performance of the SD Bioline rapid diagnostic test as a good alternative to the detection of human African trypanosomiasis in Cameroon.Journal of public health in Africa · 2022Article
- Cost-effectiveness of sleeping sickness elimination campaigns in five settings of the Democratic Republic of Congo.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Raman spectroscopic analysis of skin as a diagnostic tool for Human African Trypanosomiasis.PLoS pathogens · 2021Article
- Estimating the impact of Tiny Targets in reducing the incidence of Gambian sleeping sickness in the North-west Uganda focus.Parasites & vectors · 2021Article
- Costs and Outcomes of Integrated Human African Trypanosomiasis Surveillance System Using Rapid Diagnostic Tests, Democratic Republic of the Congo.Emerging infectious diseases · 2021Article
- 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.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2021Article
- Cost-effectiveness modelling to optimise active screening strategy for gambiense human African trypanosomiasis in endemic areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo.BMC medicine · 2021Article
- Optimising passive surveillance of a neglected tropical disease in the era of elimination: A modelling study.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2021Article
- Cost of a new method of active screening for human African trypanosomiasis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2020Article
- Development and implementation of a strategy for intensified screening for gambiense human African trypanosomiasis in Kongo Central province, DRC.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2020Article
- Diagnosis of neglected tropical diseases during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2020Article
- Product Development Partnerships: Delivering Innovation for the Elimination of African Trypanosomiasis?Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
New rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for screening human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) have been introduced as alternatives to the card agglutination test for trypanosomiasis (CATT). One brand of RDT, the SD BIOLINE HAT RDT has been shown to have lower specificity but higher sensitivity than CATT, so to make a rational choice between screening strategies, a cost-effectiveness analysis is a key element. In this paper we estimate the relative cost-effectiveness of CATT and the RDT when implemented in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Data on the epidemiological parameters and costs were collected as part of a larger study. These data were used to model three different diagnostic algorithms in mobile teams and fixed health facilities, and the relative cost-effectiveness was measured as the average cost per case diagnosed. In both fixed facilities and mobile teams, screening of participants using the SD BIOLINE HAT RDT followed by parasitological confirmation had a lower cost-effectiveness ratio than in algorithms using CATT. Algorithms using the RDT were cheaper by 112.54 (33.2%) and 88.54 (32.92%) US dollars per case diagnosed in mobile teams and fixed health facilities respectively, when compared with algorithms using CATT. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that these conclusions were robust to a number of assumptions, and that the results can be scaled to smaller or larger facilities, and a range of prevalences. The RDT was the most cost-effective screening test in all realistic scenarios and detected more cases than CATT. Thus, on this basis, the SD BIOLINE HAT RDT could be considered as the most cost-effective option for use in routine screening for HAT in the DRC.
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