@article{28647,
  keywords = {Treatment Outcome, Trachoma, Time Factors, Tanzania, Prevalence, Male, Infant, Newborn, Infant, Humans, Female, Endemic Diseases, Drug Utilization, Drug Therapy, Cross-Sectional Studies, Chlamydia trachomatis, Child, Preschool, Azithromycin, Anti-Bacterial Agents},
  author = {West S and Munoz B and Mkocha HA and Gaydos C and Quinn TC},
  title = {Number of years of annual mass treatment with azithromycin needed to control trachoma in hyper-endemic communities in Tanzania.},
  abstract = {<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>The World Health Organization recommends mass treatment as part of a trachoma control strategy. However, scant empirical data from hyperendemic communities exist on the number of rounds of treatment needed to reach a goal of \&lt;5\% prevalence in children. We determined the prevalence of trachoma and infection with Chlamydia trachomatis in communities after 3-7 years of annual mass treatment in Tanzania.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>Seventy-one communities with trachoma and annual azithromycin coverage data were enrolled. A cross-sectional survey of >=100 randomly selected children aged \&lt;5 years in each community was performed. Children were examined for clinical trachoma, and swab samples were taken for determination of ocular C. trachomatis infection.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>After 3 years of mass treatment, the prevalence of trachoma decreased in a linear fashion with number of years of mass treatment, whereas decreased prevalences of C. trachomatis infection were related to the extent of the previous year{\textquoteright}s azithromycin coverage. Our model suggests that, for communities with baseline trachoma prevalence of 50\% and annual treatment coverage of 75\%, \&gt;7 years of annual mass treatment will be needed to reach a prevalence of trachoma of \&lt;5\%.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>Country programs in trachoma-endemic regions must realistically expect that several years of annual mass treatment may be necessary to eliminate trachoma.</p>
},
  year = {2011},
  journal = {The Journal of infectious diseases},
  volume = {204},
  pages = {268-73},
  issn = {1537-6613},
  url = {https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3114471/pdf/jir257.pdf},
  doi = {10.1093/infdis/jir257},
  language = {eng},
}