Trachoma in Western Equatoria State, Southern Sudan: implications for national control.
Trachoma is thought to be common over large parts of Southern Sudan. However, many areas of the country, particularly west of the Nile, have not yet been surveyed. The aim of this study was to confirm whether trachoma extends into Western Equatoria State from neighboring Central Equatoria, where tra...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2009-07-01
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| Series: | PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2710503?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1819092081751097344 |
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| author | Lucia W Kur Diana Picon Obec Adibo Emily Robinson Anthony Sabasio Tansy Edwards Aggrey Ndyaba John Rumunu Karinya Lewis Mounir Lado Jan Kolaczinski |
| author_facet | Lucia W Kur Diana Picon Obec Adibo Emily Robinson Anthony Sabasio Tansy Edwards Aggrey Ndyaba John Rumunu Karinya Lewis Mounir Lado Jan Kolaczinski |
| author_sort | Lucia W Kur |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Trachoma is thought to be common over large parts of Southern Sudan. However, many areas of the country, particularly west of the Nile, have not yet been surveyed. The aim of this study was to confirm whether trachoma extends into Western Equatoria State from neighboring Central Equatoria, where trachoma is highly prevalent, and whether intervention with the SAFE strategy is required.Population-based cross-sectional surveys were conducted using a two-stage cluster random sampling method to select the study population. Subjects were examined for trachoma by experienced graders using the World Health Organization (WHO) simplified grading scheme. Two counties thought to be most likely to have trachoma were surveyed, Maridi and Mundri. In Maridi, prevalence of one of the signs of active trachoma (trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF)) in children aged 1-9 years was 0.4% (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.0%-0.8%), while no children showing the other possible sign, trachomatous inflammation-intense (TI), were identified. No trachomatous trichiasis (TT) was found in those aged under 15, and prevalence was 0.1% (95% CI, 0.0%-0.4%) in those aged 15 years and above. In Mundri, active trachoma was also limited to signs of TF, with a prevalence of 4.1% (95% CI, 1.4%-6.9%) in children aged 1-9 years. Again, no TT was found in those aged under 15, and prevalence in those aged 15 years and above was 0.3% (95% CI, 0.0%-0.8%).Trachoma prevalence in the east of Western Equatoria State is below the WHO recommended intervention threshold for mass drug administration of antibiotic treatment in all villages. However, the prevalence of TF and TT in some villages, particularly in Mundri County, is sufficiently high to warrant targeted interventions at the community level. These results demonstrate that trachoma is not a major public health problem throughout Southern Sudan. Further studies will be required to determine trachoma prevalence in other areas, particularly west of the Nile, but there are presently no resources to survey each county. Studies should thus be targeted to areas where collection of new data would be most informative. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T22:49:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e70151eb4cb04e259967ed69e5a12c4a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1935-2727 1935-2735 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T22:49:57Z |
| publishDate | 2009-07-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
| spelling | doaj.art-e70151eb4cb04e259967ed69e5a12c4a2022-12-21T18:47:36ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases1935-27271935-27352009-07-0137e49210.1371/journal.pntd.0000492Trachoma in Western Equatoria State, Southern Sudan: implications for national control.Lucia W KurDiana PiconObec AdiboEmily RobinsonAnthony SabasioTansy EdwardsAggrey NdyabaJohn RumunuKarinya LewisMounir LadoJan KolaczinskiTrachoma is thought to be common over large parts of Southern Sudan. However, many areas of the country, particularly west of the Nile, have not yet been surveyed. The aim of this study was to confirm whether trachoma extends into Western Equatoria State from neighboring Central Equatoria, where trachoma is highly prevalent, and whether intervention with the SAFE strategy is required.Population-based cross-sectional surveys were conducted using a two-stage cluster random sampling method to select the study population. Subjects were examined for trachoma by experienced graders using the World Health Organization (WHO) simplified grading scheme. Two counties thought to be most likely to have trachoma were surveyed, Maridi and Mundri. In Maridi, prevalence of one of the signs of active trachoma (trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF)) in children aged 1-9 years was 0.4% (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.0%-0.8%), while no children showing the other possible sign, trachomatous inflammation-intense (TI), were identified. No trachomatous trichiasis (TT) was found in those aged under 15, and prevalence was 0.1% (95% CI, 0.0%-0.4%) in those aged 15 years and above. In Mundri, active trachoma was also limited to signs of TF, with a prevalence of 4.1% (95% CI, 1.4%-6.9%) in children aged 1-9 years. Again, no TT was found in those aged under 15, and prevalence in those aged 15 years and above was 0.3% (95% CI, 0.0%-0.8%).Trachoma prevalence in the east of Western Equatoria State is below the WHO recommended intervention threshold for mass drug administration of antibiotic treatment in all villages. However, the prevalence of TF and TT in some villages, particularly in Mundri County, is sufficiently high to warrant targeted interventions at the community level. These results demonstrate that trachoma is not a major public health problem throughout Southern Sudan. Further studies will be required to determine trachoma prevalence in other areas, particularly west of the Nile, but there are presently no resources to survey each county. Studies should thus be targeted to areas where collection of new data would be most informative.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2710503?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Lucia W Kur Diana Picon Obec Adibo Emily Robinson Anthony Sabasio Tansy Edwards Aggrey Ndyaba John Rumunu Karinya Lewis Mounir Lado Jan Kolaczinski Trachoma in Western Equatoria State, Southern Sudan: implications for national control. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
| title | Trachoma in Western Equatoria State, Southern Sudan: implications for national control. |
| title_full | Trachoma in Western Equatoria State, Southern Sudan: implications for national control. |
| title_fullStr | Trachoma in Western Equatoria State, Southern Sudan: implications for national control. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Trachoma in Western Equatoria State, Southern Sudan: implications for national control. |
| title_short | Trachoma in Western Equatoria State, Southern Sudan: implications for national control. |
| title_sort | trachoma in western equatoria state southern sudan implications for national control |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2710503?pdf=render |
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