@article{31210, keywords = {Trachoma, Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), mass drug administration (MDA), Mali, Elimination, Children, Azithromycin, Prevalence}, author = {Traor{\'e} L and Dembele B and Keita M and Reid S and Demb{\'e}le M and Mariko B and Coulibaly F and Goldman W and Traor{\'e} D and Coulibaly D and Guindo B and Amon J and Knieriemen M and Zhang Y}, title = {Prevalence of trachoma in the Kayes region of Mali eight years after stopping mass drug administration.}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: In 2009, three years after stopping mass treatment with azithromycin, a trachoma impact survey in four health districts in the Kayes region of Mali found a prevalence of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) among children aged 1 to 9 years of \>5\% and a trachomatous trichiasis (TT) prevalence within the general population (>=1-year-old) of \<1\%. As a result, the government{\textquoteright}s national trachoma program expanded trichiasis surgery and related activities required to achieve trachoma elimination.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In 2015, to assess progress towards elimination, a follow-up impact survey was conducted in the Kayes, K{\'e}ni{\'e}ba, Nioro and Y{\'e}liman{\'e} health districts. The survey used district level two-stage cluster random sampling methodology with 20 clusters of 30 households in each evaluation unit. Subjects were eligible for examination if they were >=1 year. TF and TT cases were identified and confirmed by experienced ophthalmologists. In total 14,159 people were enumerated and 11,620 (82\%) were examined. TF prevalence (95\% confidence interval (CI)) was 0.5\% (0.3-1\%) in Kayes, 0.8\% (0.4-1.7\%) in K{\'e}ni{\'e}ba, 0.2\% (0-0.9\%) in Nioro and 0.3\% (0.1-1\%) in Y{\'e}liman{\'e}. TT prevalence (95\% CI) was 0.04\% (0-0.25\%) in Kayes, 0.29\% (0.11-0.6\%) in K{\'e}ni{\'e}ba, 0.04\% (0-0.25\%) in Nioro and 0.07\% (0-0.27\%) in Y{\'e}liman{\'e}.

CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Eight years after stopping MDA and intensifying trichiasis surgery outreach campaigns, all four districts reached the TF elimination threshold of \<5\% and three of four districts reached the TT elimination threshold of \<0.1\%.

}, year = {2018}, journal = {PLoS neglected tropical diseases}, volume = {12}, pages = {e0006289}, issn = {1935-2735}, url = {http://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0006289\&type=printable}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pntd.0006289}, language = {eng}, }