System dynamics modelling approach to explore the effect of dog demography on rabies vaccination coverage in Africa.

BACKGROUND:Dogs are important reservoirs of rabies, a zoonotic viral encephalitis that kills thousands of people in Asia and Africa annually. Mass dog vaccination is recommended for the prevention of rabies in both humans and dogs. Mass vaccinations should be conducted annually but more frequent cam...

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Main Author: Nozyechi Ngulube Chidumayo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2018-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC6201891?pdf=render
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author Nozyechi Ngulube Chidumayo
author_facet Nozyechi Ngulube Chidumayo
author_sort Nozyechi Ngulube Chidumayo
collection DOAJ
description BACKGROUND:Dogs are important reservoirs of rabies, a zoonotic viral encephalitis that kills thousands of people in Asia and Africa annually. Mass dog vaccination is recommended for the prevention of rabies in both humans and dogs. Mass vaccinations should be conducted annually but more frequent campaigns may be required in areas with high dog turnover rates. Consequently, a good understanding of dog demography is essential for the control of the disease. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of dog demography on rabies vaccination coverage following a mass vaccination campaign with at least 70% vaccination coverage. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:A dog population model was constructed to explore the effect of dog demography on rabies vaccination coverage decline. Important model parameters were identified through a comprehensive literature search on dog demography in Africa. A system dynamics approach was adopted to build a dog population model to simulate the effects of demographic processes on rabies vaccination coverage. Vensim PLE Plus software was used to construct the model. Multivariate sensitivity simulations using data from 22 studies and 12 African countries were performed to investigate the effect of dog turnover rates on vaccination coverage decline. In addition, an adjusted vaccination coverage to estimate the proportion of vaccinated dogs with adequate immunity at 12 months post-vaccination was calculated. The results demonstrated that the vaccination coverage and adjusted vaccination coverage remained over 30% and 20% respectively at 12 months if annual mass vaccinations achieved at least 70% coverage. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:The results demonstrated that annual mass vaccination campaigns with at least 70% vaccination coverage would maintain a herd immunity of 20‒45% between campaigns.
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spelling doaj.art-a27c0cfce3aa491db69d03c45c23ea692022-12-22T01:29:01ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032018-01-011310e020588410.1371/journal.pone.0205884System dynamics modelling approach to explore the effect of dog demography on rabies vaccination coverage in Africa.Nozyechi Ngulube ChidumayoBACKGROUND:Dogs are important reservoirs of rabies, a zoonotic viral encephalitis that kills thousands of people in Asia and Africa annually. Mass dog vaccination is recommended for the prevention of rabies in both humans and dogs. Mass vaccinations should be conducted annually but more frequent campaigns may be required in areas with high dog turnover rates. Consequently, a good understanding of dog demography is essential for the control of the disease. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of dog demography on rabies vaccination coverage following a mass vaccination campaign with at least 70% vaccination coverage. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:A dog population model was constructed to explore the effect of dog demography on rabies vaccination coverage decline. Important model parameters were identified through a comprehensive literature search on dog demography in Africa. A system dynamics approach was adopted to build a dog population model to simulate the effects of demographic processes on rabies vaccination coverage. Vensim PLE Plus software was used to construct the model. Multivariate sensitivity simulations using data from 22 studies and 12 African countries were performed to investigate the effect of dog turnover rates on vaccination coverage decline. In addition, an adjusted vaccination coverage to estimate the proportion of vaccinated dogs with adequate immunity at 12 months post-vaccination was calculated. The results demonstrated that the vaccination coverage and adjusted vaccination coverage remained over 30% and 20% respectively at 12 months if annual mass vaccinations achieved at least 70% coverage. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:The results demonstrated that annual mass vaccination campaigns with at least 70% vaccination coverage would maintain a herd immunity of 20‒45% between campaigns.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC6201891?pdf=render
spellingShingle Nozyechi Ngulube Chidumayo
System dynamics modelling approach to explore the effect of dog demography on rabies vaccination coverage in Africa.
PLoS ONE
title System dynamics modelling approach to explore the effect of dog demography on rabies vaccination coverage in Africa.
title_full System dynamics modelling approach to explore the effect of dog demography on rabies vaccination coverage in Africa.
title_fullStr System dynamics modelling approach to explore the effect of dog demography on rabies vaccination coverage in Africa.
title_full_unstemmed System dynamics modelling approach to explore the effect of dog demography on rabies vaccination coverage in Africa.
title_short System dynamics modelling approach to explore the effect of dog demography on rabies vaccination coverage in Africa.
title_sort system dynamics modelling approach to explore the effect of dog demography on rabies vaccination coverage in africa
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC6201891?pdf=render
work_keys_str_mv AT nozyechingulubechidumayo systemdynamicsmodellingapproachtoexploretheeffectofdogdemographyonrabiesvaccinationcoverageinafrica