1. Serological diagnosis of soil-transmitted helminth (Ascaris, Trichuris and hookworm) infections: A scoping review.
- Author
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Roose, Sara, Vande Velde, Fiona, Vlaminck, Johnny, Geldhof, Peter, and Levecke, Bruno
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HOOKWORM disease , *ASCARIS , *WHIPWORMS , *HOOKWORMS , *ANIMAL herds , *NEGLECTED diseases - Abstract
Background: The World Health Organization emphasizes the importance of integrated monitoring and evaluation in neglected tropical disease (NTD) control programs. Serological assays offer a potential solution for integrated diagnosis of NTDs, particularly for those requiring mass drug administration (MDA) as primary control and elimination strategy. This scoping review aims (i) to provide an overview of assays using serum or plasma to detect infections with soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) in both humans and animals, (ii) to examine the methodologies used in this research field and (iii) to discuss advancements in serological diagnosis of STHs to guide prevention and control programs in veterinary and human medicine. Methodology: We conducted a systematic search in the Ovid MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane Library databases, supplemented by a Google search using predefined keywords to identify commercially available serological assays. Additionally, we performed a patent search through Espacenet. Principal findings: We identified 85 relevant literature records spanning over 50 years, with a notable increased interest in serological assay development in recent years. Most of the research efforts concentrated on diagnosing Ascaris infections in both humans and pigs, primarily using ELISA and western blot technologies. Almost all records targeted antibodies as analytes, employing proteins and peptides as analyte detection agents. Approximately 60% of sample sets described pertained to human samples. No commercially available tests for Trichuris or hookworms were identified, while for Ascaris, there are at least seven different ELISAs on the market. Conclusions: While a substantial number of assays are employed in epidemiological research, the current state of serological diagnosis for guiding STH prevention and control programs is limited. Only two assays designed for pigs are used to inform efficient deworming practices in pig populations. Regarding human diagnosis, none of the existing assays has undergone extensive large-scale validation or integration into routine diagnostics for MDA programs. Author summary: To further integrate the monitoring and evaluation of public health control programs against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), the diagnostic platforms used should ideally be able to screen multiple NTDs in one and the same sample. A stepping stone for more synergies across these programs are blood-based diagnostic assays. Although they have been both developed and implemented to inform public health programs for a number of NTDs, little is known about the progress towards a blood-based diagnostic assays to follow-up on public health programs against intestinal worms. Therefore, we conducted an extensive review of blood-based tests for intestinal worm infections in humans and animals, analysing their progress from assay-development towards routine use in both public and animal health control programs. Our results indicated that, despite many tests are used in research, the use of blood-based assays for guiding control programs against intestinal worms is limited. Only two tests for pigs are currently used to inform deworming programs in pig herds. For human diagnosis, none of the current assays has been extensively evaluated or used for routine diagnosis in control programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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