ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2021
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.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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11 citing papers in PubMed.
- Performance of clinical signs and symptoms, rapid and reference laboratory diagnostic tests for diagnosis of human African trypanosomiasis by passive screening in Guinea: a prospective diagnostic accuracy study.Infectious diseases of poverty · 2023Trial
- Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT): Epidemiology, Biological Diagnosis and Treatment: A Review.Acta parasitologica · 2025Review
- Passive surveillance of human African trypanosomiasis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: clinical presentation and prospective evaluation of rapid diagnostic and reference laboratory test accuracy.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- The STROGHAT study protocol: An intervention study to evaluate safety, effectiveness and feasibility of treating gambiense HAT seropositive subjects with acoziborole.Open research Europe · 2025Article
- The Use of Dried Matrix Spots as an Alternative Sampling Technique for Monitoring Neglected Tropical Diseases.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Acceptability and feasibility of tests for infection, serological testing, and photography to define need for interventions against trachoma.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- The elimination of human African trypanosomiasis: Monitoring progress towards the 2021-2030 WHO road map targets.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- Comparison of stochastic and deterministic models for gambiense sleeping sickness at different spatial scales: A health area analysis in the DRC.PLoS computational biology · 2024Article
- Update of transmission modelling and projections of gambiense human African trypanosomiasis in the Mandoul focus, Chad.Infectious diseases of poverty · 2022Article
- Two-Year Follow-Up ofDiagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Monitoring the elimination of gambiense human African trypanosomiasis in the historical focus of Batié, South-West Burkina Faso.Parasite (Paris, France) · 2022Article
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9 authors.
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Abstract
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.
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