The World Health Organization (WHO) recently proposed a new operational definition which designates communities with ≥10% prevalence of Schistosoma spp. infection as a persistent hotspot, when, after at least two rounds of high-coverage annual preventive chemotherapy, there is a lack of appropriate reduction. However, inconsistencies and challenges from both biological and operational perspectives remain, making the prescriptive use of this definition difficult. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of the use of the term ‘hotspot’ across schistosomiasis research over time, including both literature searches and opinions from a range of stakeholders, to assess the utility and generalisability of the new WHO definition of a persistent hotspot. Importantly, we propose an updated definition based on our analyses.
BT - Trends in Parasitology DO - 10.1016/j.pt.2023.09.006 LA - Eng M3 - Opinion N2 -The World Health Organization (WHO) recently proposed a new operational definition which designates communities with ≥10% prevalence of Schistosoma spp. infection as a persistent hotspot, when, after at least two rounds of high-coverage annual preventive chemotherapy, there is a lack of appropriate reduction. However, inconsistencies and challenges from both biological and operational perspectives remain, making the prescriptive use of this definition difficult. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of the use of the term ‘hotspot’ across schistosomiasis research over time, including both literature searches and opinions from a range of stakeholders, to assess the utility and generalisability of the new WHO definition of a persistent hotspot. Importantly, we propose an updated definition based on our analyses.
PB - Elsevier BV PY - 2023 SP - 1 EP - 18 T2 - Trends in Parasitology TI - Defining schistosomiasis hotspots based on literature and shareholder interviews UR - https://www.cell.com/action/showPdf?pii=S1471-4922%2823%2900227-1 SN - 1471-4922 ER -