Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36006929›Full record

ArticlePloS one2022

A prevalence-based transmission model for the study of the epidemiology and control of soil-transmitted helminthiasis.

Nyuk Sian Chong, Robert J Hardwick, Stacey R Smith, James E Truscott, Roy M Anderson

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 28% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Nyuk Sian ChongFaculty of Ocean Engineering Technology and Informatics, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia.
Robert J HardwickLondon Centre for Neglected Tropical Disease Research, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, St. Mary's Campus, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0001-8778-006X
Stacey R SmithDepartment of Mathematics and Faculty of Medicine, The University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-6529-3321
James E TruscottLondon Centre for Neglected Tropical Disease Research, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, St. Mary's Campus, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
Roy M AndersonLondon Centre for Neglected Tropical Disease Research, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, St. Mary's Campus, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
London Centre for Neglected Tropical Disease Research · GBUniversiti Malaysia Terengganu · MYUniversity of Ottawa · CA

Funding

Medical Research Council MR/R015600/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Much effort has been devoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) to eliminate soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections by 2030 using mass drug administration targeted at particular risk groups alongside the availability to access water, sanitation and hygiene services. The targets set by the WHO for the control of helminth infections are typically defined in terms of the prevalence of infection, whereas the standard formulation of STH transmission models typically describe dynamic changes in the mean-worm burden. We develop a prevalence-based deterministic model to investigate the transmission dynamics of soil-transmitted helminthiasis in humans, subject to continuous exposure to infection over time. We analytically determine local stability criteria for all equilibria and find bifurcation points. Our model predicts that STH infection will either be eliminated (if the initial prevalence value, y(0), is sufficiently small) or remain endemic (if y(0) is sufficiently large), with the two stable points of endemic infection and parasite eradication separated by a transmission breakpoint. Two special cases of the model are analysed: (1) the distribution of the STH parasites in the host population is highly aggregated following a negative binomial distribution, and (2) no density-dependent effects act on the parasite population. We find that disease extinction is always possible for Case (1), but it is not so for Case (2) if y(0) is sufficiently large. However, by introducing stochastic perturbation into the deterministic model, we discover that chance effects can lead to outcomes not predicted by the deterministic model alone, with outcomes highly dependent on the degree of worm clumping, k. Specifically, we show that if the reproduction number and clumping are sufficiently bounded, then stochasticity will cause the parasite to die out. It follows that control of soil-transmitted helminths will be more difficult if the worm distribution tends towards clumping.

Indexed as

HelminthiasisHelminthsAnimalsFecesHumansMass Drug AdministrationPrevalenceSanitationSoilSoil

Identifiers

PMID36006929
PMCPMC9409602
OpenAlexW4293103010

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.