Devastating Elephantiasis Facing Elimination [STUDY]

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The findings of a study by the University of Warwick reveals that a disabling parasitic disease which causes elephantiasis, and threatens up to one billion people globally known as Lymphatic filariasis, could be eliminated more quickly.

Dr Deirdre Hollingsworth, leader of the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Modelling Consortium, led the international team of researchers who discovered that if a recently proposed combination of three particular drugs is used, the disease can be treated rapidly or even prevented in a large number of people, using fewer rounds of drugs.

So many people with the disease develop Lymphoedema or Elephantiasis, causing pain and profound disfigurement such as large swelling of the arms, legs or genitals and can also leads to permanent disability.

The disease does not only disable its patients physically, but also inflicts mental disability, with social and financial losses contributing to stigma and poverty. A large proportion of the people living with the threat of transmission are in India, Indonesia and Myanmar where the triple drug combination could be used.

Lymphatic filariasis - a neglected tropical disease, causes serious damage to the lymphatic system. It is caused by parasitic worms, and then transmitted by mosquitoes to humans.

People with Lymphatic filariasis currently require multiple rounds of treatment, but if these three drugs - ivermectin, diethylcarbamazine, and albendazole are used together, the drugs are more effective in killing the worms according to the studies.

The findings shows that the number of rounds of mass drug administration needed to treat the disease may be reduced from many rounds to only two or three.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has targeted the disease for elimination as a public health problem by the year 2020. Drug companies including GlaxoSmithKline, Merck and Eisai have also pledged to donate drugs to help eradicate the disease globally.

Initial studies discovered that the triple drug regimen is far more effective in eliminating the parasite from its human host and also has a good safety profile. Experts have thus noted that campaigns can encounter problems when they go on for too long because patients can lose interest in taking the drug when the disease is not very common.

Although, the researchers cannot predict how fast the new regimen will speed up the elimination, and in which countries, according to Sciencedaily.

Mathematical models were used simulate a mass drug administration campaign in different settings. Since much is not known about the transmission of the disease and also population responds to intervention, three independently developed models were used to estimate the impact of the new regimen.

These models were developed at the University of Warwick, Erasmus Medical Centre, and Notre Dame Universities. The three models were in agreement in the effectiveness of the regimen in reducing the prevalence of disease. The researchers noted that more effective treatment with fewer drugs rounds is crucial in poor countries where the transmissions are high but resources are low, according to Medicalexpress.

"This more effective treatment has the potential to revolutionize the control of this disease, but it will require that in over a few rounds of treatment the programs are able to treat almost the whole population, even the most inaccessible," Dr Hollingsworth, from the University of Warwick's Mathematics Institute and School of Life Sciences says.

"This study demonstrates the power of using multiple models, an important trend in complex systems modeling and use of models for policy making. It allows us to be sure that our insights are robust," Professor Edwin Michael, from Notre Dame University says.