02840nas a2200349   4500000000100000008004100001653003900042653004100081653002000122653001400142653004300156653001000199653002200209100001700231700001200248700001200260700001500272700001800287700001300305700001500318700002300333700001500356700001600371700001600387700001300403245016900416856009800585300001300683490000700696520177300703022001402476       2018                            d10aNeglected tropical diseases (NTDs)10aSoil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH)10aschistosomiasis10adiagnosis10aGlobal Polio Laboratory Network (GPLN)10aGhana10aDiagnostic method1 aCunningham L1 aOdoom J1 aPratt D1 aBoatemaa L1 aAsante-Ntim N1 aAttiku K1 aBanahene B1 aOsei-Atweneboana M1 aVerweij JJ1 aMolyneux DH1 aStothard RJ1 aAdams ER00aExpanding molecular diagnostics of helminthiasis: Piloting use of the GPLN platform for surveillance of soil transmitted helminthiasis and schistosomiasis in Ghana.  uhttp://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0006129&type=printable  ae00061290 v123 a<p>The efforts to control and eradicate polio as a global health burden have been successful to the point where currently only three countries now report endemic polio, and the number of cases of polio continues to decrease. The success of the polio programme has been dependant on a well-developed network of laboratories termed the global polio laboratory network (GPLN). Here we explore collaborative opportunities with the GPLN to target two of the 18 diseases listed as a neglected tropical diseases (NTD) namely soil transmitted helminthiasis (STH) and Schistosomiasis (SCH). These were chosen based on prevalence and the use of faecal materials to identify both polio, STH and SCH. Our study screened 448 faecal samples from the Ghana GPLN using three triplex TaqMan assays to identify Ascaris lumbricoides, Necator americanus, Ancylostoma spp, Trichuris trchiura, Strongyloides stercoralis and Schistosoma spp. Our results found a combined helminth prevalence of 22%. The most common helminth infection was A. lumbricoides with a prevalence of 15% followed by N. americanus (5%), Ancylostoma spp. (2.5%), Schistosoma spp. (1.6%) and S. stercoralis (1%). These results show that it is possible to identify alternative pathogens to polio in the samples collected by the GPLN platform and to introduce new diagnostic assays to their laboratories. The diagnostic methods employed were also able to identify S. stercoralis positive samples, which are difficult to identify using parasitological methods such as Kato-Katz. This study raises the possibility of collaboration with the GPLN for the surveillance of a wider range of diseases which would both benefit the efforts to control the NTDs and also increase the scope of the GPLN as a diagnostic platform.</p>
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