ProCite
RefWorks
Reference Manager
BibTeX
Zotero
EndNote
-
1.
Pullan RL, Smith JL, Jasrasaria R, Brooker SJ, 2014. Global numbers of infection and disease burden of soil transmitted helminth infections in 2010. Parasit Vectors 7: 37.
-
2.
GBD 2015 DALYs and HALE Collaborators, 2016. Global, regional, and national disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for 315 diseases and injuries and healthy life expectancy (HALE), 1990–2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. Lancet 388: 1603–1658.
-
3.
Uniting to Combat NTDs, 2016. Reaching the Unreached: Fourth Progress Report of the London Declaration. London, United Kingdom: Uniting to Combat NTDs.
-
4.
WHO, 2012. Eliminating Soil-Transmitted helminthiasis as a Public Health Problem in Children: Progress Report 2001–2010 and Strategic Plan 2011–2020. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.
-
5.
WHO, 2017. Preventive Chemotherapy to Control Soil-Transmitted Helminth Infections in at-Risk Population Groups. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.
-
6.
Anderson RM, Turner HC, Truscott JE, Hollingsworth TD, Brooker SJ, 2015. Should the goal for the treatment of soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections be changed from morbidity control in children to community-wide transmission elimination? PLoS Negl Trop Dis 9: e0003897.
-
7.
Truscott JE, Hollingsworth TD, Brooker SJ, Anderson RM, 2014. Can chemotherapy alone eliminate the transmission of soil transmitted helminths. Parasit Vectors 7: 266.
-
8.
McCarthy JS, Lustigman S, Yang G-J, Barakat RM, García HH, Sripa B, Willingham AL, Prichard RK, Basáñez M-G, 2012. A research agenda for helminth diseases of humans: diagnostics for control and elimination programmes. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 6: e1601.
-
9.
WHO, 2011. Helminth Control in School Age Children: A Guide for Managers of Control Programmes. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.
-
10.
WHO, 1991. Basic Laboratory Methods in Medical Parasitology. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.
-
11.
Booth M, Vounatsou P, N’goran E, Tanner M, Utzinger J, 2003. The influence of sampling effort and the performance of the Kato–Katz technique in diagnosing Schistosoma mansoni and hookworm co-infections in rural Côte d’Ivoire. Parasitology 127: 525–531.
-
12.
Nikolay B, Brooker SJ, Pullan RL, 2014. Sensitivity of diagnostic tests for human soil-transmitted helminth infections: a meta-analysis in the absence of a true gold standard. Int J Parasitol 44: 765–774.
-
13.
Dacombe R, Crampin A, Floyd S, Randall A, Ndhlovu R, Bickle Q, Fine P, 2007. Time delays between patient and laboratory selectively affect accuracy of helminth diagnosis. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 101: 140–145.
-
14.
Basuni M, Muhi J, Othman N, Verweij JJ, Ahmad M, Miswan N, Rahumatullah A, Aziz FA, Zainudin NS, Noordin R, 2011. A pentaplex real-time polymerase chain reaction assay for detection of four species of soil-transmitted helminths. Am J Trop Med Hyg 84: 338–343.
-
15.
Easton AV, Oliveira RG, O’Connell EM, Kepha S, Mwandawiro CS, Njenga SM, Kihara JH, Mwatele C, Odiere MR, Brooker SJ, 2016. Multi-parallel qPCR provides increased sensitivity and diagnostic breadth for gastrointestinal parasites of humans: field-based inferences on the impact of mass deworming. Parasit Vectors 9: 38.
-
16.
Inpankaew T, Schär F, Khieu V, Muth S, Dalsgaard A, Marti H, Traub RJ, Odermatt P, 2014. Simple fecal flotation is a superior alternative to quadruple Kato Katz smear examination for the detection of hookworm eggs in human stool. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 8: e3313.
-
17.
Mationg MLS et al. 2017. Status of soil-transmitted helminth infections in schoolchildren in Laguna Province, the Philippines: determined by parasitological and molecular diagnostic techniques. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 11: e0006022.
-
18.
Mejia R, Vicuña Y, Broncano N, Sandoval C, Vaca M, Chico M, Cooper PJ, Nutman TB, 2013. A novel, multi-parallel, real-time polymerase chain reaction approach for eight gastrointestinal parasites provides improved diagnostic capabilities to resource-limited at-risk populations. Am J Trop Med Hyg 88: 1041–1047.
-
19.
Verweij JJ, Brienen EA, Ziem J, Yelifari L, Polderman AM, Van Lieshout L, 2007. Simultaneous detection and quantification of Ancylostoma duodenale, Necator americanus, and Oesophagostomum bifurcum in fecal samples using multiplex real-time PCR. Am J Trop Med Hyg 77: 685–690.
-
20.
Llewellyn S, Inpankaew T, Nery SV, Gray DJ, Verweij JJ, Clements ACA, Gomes SJ, Traub R, McCarthy JS, 2016. Application of a multiplex quantitative PCR to assess prevalence and intensity of intestinal parasite infections in a controlled clinical trial. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 10: e0004380.
-
21.
Knopp S, Salim N, Schindler T, Voules DAK, Rothen J, Lweno O, Mohammed AS, Singo R, Benninghoff M, Nsojo AA, 2014. Diagnostic accuracy of Kato-Katz, FLOTAC, Baermann, and PCR methods for the detection of light-intensity hookworm and Strongyloides stercoralis infections in Tanzania. Am J Trop Med Hyg 90: 535–545.
-
22.
Papaiakovou M, Pilotte N, Baumer B, Grant J, Asbjornsdottir K, Schaer F, Hu Y, Aroian R, Walson J, Williams SA, 2018. A comparative analysis of preservation techniques for the optimal molecular detection of hookworm DNA in a human fecal specimen. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 12: e0006130.
-
23.
Clarke NE, Clements ACA, Bryan S, McGown J, Gray D, Nery SV, 2016. Investigating the differential impact of school and community-based integrated control programmes for soil-transmitted helminths in Timor-Leste: the (S)WASH-D for Worms pilot study protocol. Pilot Feasibility Stud 2: 69.
-
24.
Pilotte N, Papaiakovou M, Grant JR, Biewert LA, Llewellyn S, McCarthy JS, Williams SA, 2016. Improved PCR-based detection of soil transmitted helminth infections using a next-generation sequencing approach to assay design. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 10: e0004578.
-
25.
Phosuk I, Intapan PM, Sanpool O, Janwan P, Thanchomnang T, Sawanyawisuth K, Morakote N, Maleewong W, 2013. Molecular evidence of Trichostrongylus colubriformis and Trichostrongylus axei infections in humans from Thailand and Lao PDR. Am J Trop Med Hyg 89: 376–379.
-
26.
Verweij JJ, Pit DS, Van Lieshout L, Baeta SM, Dery GD, Gasser RB, Polderman AM, 2001. Determining the prevalence of Oesophagostomum bifurcum and Necator americanus infections using specific PCR amplification of DNA from faecal samples. Trop Med Int Health 6: 726–731.
-
27.
Turner HC, Bettis AA, Dunn JC, Whitton JM, Hollingsworth TD, Fleming FM, Anderson RM, 2017. Economic considerations for moving beyond the Kato–Katz technique for diagnosing intestinal parasites as we move towards elimination. Trends Parasitol 33: 435–443.
-
28.
Barda B et al. 2015. How long can stool samples be fixed for an accurate diagnosis of soil-transmitted helminth infection using mini-FLOTAC? PLoS Negl Trop Dis 9: e0003698.
| Past two years | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| Full Text Views | 1301 | 254 | 24 |
| PDF Downloads | 274 | 121 | 13 |
Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction for Diagnosis of Soil-Transmitted Helminth Infections: A Comparison with a Flotation-Based Technique and an Investigation of Variability in DNA Detection
Appropriate diagnostic techniques are crucial to global soil-transmitted helminth (STH) control efforts. The recommended Kato–Katz method has low sensitivity in low-transmission settings. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) is a highly sensitive alternative diagnostic option. However, little is known about the variability in qPCR results, and there are few published comparisons between qPCR and other microscopy-based techniques such as sodium nitrate flotation (SNF). Using 865 stool samples collected from 571 individuals, we compared SNF and qPCR in terms of diagnostic sensitivity and infection intensity measurements. In addition, we conducted repeated examinations on a single Necator americanus–positive stool sample over a 6-month period. Results showed good diagnostic agreement between SNF and qPCR for Ascaris spp. (κ = 0.69, P < 0.001), and moderate agreement for hookworm (κ = 0.55, P < 0.001) and Trichuris spp. (κ = 0.50, P < 0.001). Quantitative polymerase chain reaction demonstrated higher sensitivity than SNF for Ascaris spp. (94.1% versus 68.1%) and hookworm (75.7% versus 66.9%) but not for Trichuris spp. (53.1% versus 81.3%), which had very low prevalence. Sodium nitrate flotation and qPCR infection intensity measurements were strongly correlated for Ascaris spp. (ρ = 0.82, P < 0.001) and moderately correlated for hookworm (ρ = 0.58, P < 0.001). Repeated examinations using qPCR showed that N. americanus cycle threshold values decreased significantly at 1 month and remained stable thereafter. Results confirm the high diagnostic sensitivity of qPCR for Ascaris spp. and hookworm, particularly for light-intensity infections, which is ideal for settings approaching transmission elimination. Results support the potential for qPCR to be used as a quantitative assay for STH. Further research is needed in settings where Trichuris trichiura is endemic.
- Supplemental Materials (PDF 248 KB)
Author Notes
Financial support: This work was supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA (grant number OPP1119041).
Authors’ addresses: Naomi E. Clarke and Alice Richardson, Research School of Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, E-mails: naomi.clarke@anu.edu.au and alice.richardson@anu.edu.au. Stacey Llewellyn and James McCarthy, Clinical Tropical Medicine Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia, E-mails: stacey.llewellyn@qimrberghofer.edu.au and j.mccarthy@uq.edu.au. Rebecca J. Traub, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia, E-mail: rebecca.traub@unimelb.edu.au. Susana V. Nery, Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, E-mail: snery@kirby.unsw.edu.au.