| Autor: |
Sanders AM; Trachoma Control Program, The Carter Center, Atlanta, Georgia., Elshafie BE; Sudan Federal Ministry of Health, Khartoum, Sudan., Abdalla Z; Trachoma Control Program, The Carter Center, Khartoum, Sudan., Simmons C; Trachoma Control Program, The Carter Center, Atlanta, Georgia., Goodhew EB; United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia., Gonzalez TA; Trachoma Control Program, The Carter Center, Atlanta, Georgia., Nute AW; Trachoma Control Program, The Carter Center, Atlanta, Georgia., Mohammed A; Trachoma Control Program, The Carter Center, Khartoum, Sudan., Callahan EK; Trachoma Control Program, The Carter Center, Atlanta, Georgia., Martin DL; United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia., Nash SD; Trachoma Control Program, The Carter Center, Atlanta, Georgia. |
| Abstrakt: |
After years of programmatic inaccessibility, in 2019-2020 the Sudan Federal Ministry of Health Trachoma Control Program conducted population-based trachoma surveys in three localities (districts) in North Darfur state, Sudan. These baseline surveys were to determine the prevalence of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) among children aged 1-9 years and to further use serological markers to understand the historical trachoma burden within this mass drug administration (MDA)-naive area. Trained and certified graders collected trachoma clinical data, and trained nurses collected dried blood spot (DBS) samples. The DBSs were assayed on a multiplex bead array for antibody responses to the Chlamydia trachomatis antigens Pgp3 and CT694. Across the three localities, 3,613 individuals aged 1-9 years and 3,542 individuals aged ≥15 years were examined for clinical signs, and 8,322 DBSs were collected. The prevalence of TF among children aged 1-9 years was endemic (≥5%) in two localities (El Seraif, 15.6%, and Saraf Omrah, 11.0%) and below the TF elimination threshold (<5%) in the third (Kotom, 1.4%). The Pgp3 seroprevalence among children aged 1-9 years was 34.1% in El Seraif, 35.0% in Saraf Omrah, and 11.0% in Kotom. Locality prevalence results were similar for Pgp3 and CT694. Seroprevalence increased with age in all three localities. Serological data collected within these surveys demonstrate that all three localities have had a long history of exposure to Chlamydia trachomatis and that two of the three localities require MDA to reach elimination as a public health problem threshold. |
