Lymphatic filariasis elimination in the Dominican Republic: History, progress, and remaining steps

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2021 Aug 10;15(8):e0009590. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0009590. eCollection 2021 Aug.

Abstract

Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a mosquito-transmitted parasitic disease that is a leading cause of disability globally. The island of Hispaniola, which the Dominican Republic shares with Haiti, accounts for approximately 90% of LF cases in the Americas region. In 1998, the Dominican Ministry of Public Health created the Program to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (PELF) with the goal of eliminating LF transmission by 2020. Baseline mapping revealed 19 (12% of total) endemic municipalities clustered into three geographic foci (Southwest, La Ciénaga and East), with a total at-risk population of 262,395 people. Beginning in 2002, PELF sequentially implemented mass drug administration (MDA) in these foci using albendazole and diethylcarbamazine (DEC). In total, 1,174,050 treatments were given over three to five annual rounds of house-to-house MDA per focus with a median coverage of 81.7% (range 67.4%-92.2%). By 2018, LF antigen prevalence was less than 2% in all foci, thus meeting criteria to stop MDA and begin post-treatment surveillance (PTS). This success has been achieved against a shifting landscape of limited domestic funding, competing domestic public health priorities, and sporadic external donor support. Remaining steps include the need to scale-up morbidity management and disability prevention services for LF and to continue PTS until LF transmission is interrupted across Hispaniola.

Publication types

  • Historical Article
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Albendazole / administration & dosage
  • Diethylcarbamazine / administration & dosage
  • Disease Eradication / history*
  • Disease Eradication / methods
  • Dominican Republic / epidemiology
  • Elephantiasis, Filarial / epidemiology*
  • Elephantiasis, Filarial / prevention & control*
  • History, 20th Century
  • History, 21st Century
  • Humans
  • Mass Drug Administration / statistics & numerical data*
  • Prevalence
  • Public Health

Substances

  • Albendazole
  • Diethylcarbamazine

Grants and funding

PELF acknowledges the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Lymphatic Filariasis Support Center at Emory University, the Task Force for Global Health, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Lymphatic Filariasis Support Centre, and The Carter Center for financial support for program activities. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.