Mathematical inference on helminth egg counts in stool and its applications in mass drug administration programmes to control soil-transmitted helminthiasis in public health

Advances in Parasitology
Bruno LeveckeStefan Van Aelst

Abstract

In the present study, we present a hierarchical model based on faecal egg counts (FECs; expressed in eggs per 1g of stool) in which we first describe the variation in FECs between individuals in a particular population, followed by describing the variance due to counting eggs under a microscope separately for each stool sample. From this general framework, we discuss how to calculate a sample size for assessing a population mean FEC and the impact of an intervention, measured as reduction in FECs, for any scenario of soil-transmitted helminth (STH) epidemiology (the intensity and aggregation of FECs within a population) and diagnostic strategy (amount of stool examined (∼sensitivity of the diagnostic technique) and examination of individual/pooled stool samples) and on how to estimate prevalence of STH in the absence of a gold standard. To give these applications the most wide relevance as possible, we illustrate each of them with hypothetical examples.

Citations

Sep 27, 2016·Journal of Helminthology·C NithikathkulP Reungsang
Dec 13, 2019·The Journal of Infectious Diseases·Luc E CoffengSake J de Vlas

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