Mass treatment to eliminate filariasis in Papua New Guinea.

BACKGROUND: The global initiative to eradicate bancroftian filariasis currently relies on mass treatment with four to six annual doses of antifilarial drugs. The goal is to reduce the reservoir of microfilariae in the blood to a level that is insufficient to maintain transmission by the mosquito vector. METHODS: In nearly 2500 residents of Papua New Guinea, we prospectively assessed the effects of four annual treatments with a single dose of diethylcarbamazine plus ivermectin or diethylcarbamazine alone on the incidence of microfilariae-positive infections, the severity of lymphatic disease, and the rate of transmission of Wuchereria bancrofti by mosquitoes. Random assignment to treatment regimens was carried out according to the village of residence, and villages were categorized as having moderate or high rates of transmission. RESULTS: The four annual treatments with either drug regimen were taken by 77 to 86 percent of the members of the population who were at least five years old; treatments were well tolerated. The proportion with microfilariae-positive infections decreased by 86 to 98 percent, with a greater reduction in areas with a moderate rate of transmission than in those with a high rate. The respective aggregate frequencies of hydrocele and leg lymphedema were 15 percent and 5 percent before the trial began, and 5 percent (P<0.001) and 4 percent (P=0.04) after five years. Hydrocele and leg lymphedema were eliminated in 87 percent and 69 percent, respectively, of those who had these conditions at the outset. The rate of transmission by mosquitoes decreased substantially, and new microfilariae-positive infections in children were almost completely prevented over the five-year study period. CONCLUSIONS: Annual mass treatment with drugs such as diethylcarbamazine can virtually eliminate the reservoir of microfilariae and greatly reduce the frequency of clinical lymphatic abnormalities due to bancroftian filariasis. Eradication may be possible in areas with moderate rates of transmission, but longer periods of treatment or additional control measures may be necessary in areas with high rates of transmission.

Polymerase chain reaction diagnosis and the changing pattern of vector ecology and malaria transmission dynamics in papua new Guinea.

The ecology and behavior of most of the 11 known members of the Anopheles punctulatus group remain unresolved and only the morphologic species An. farauti, An. koliensis, and An. punctulatus are known as vectors of malaria in Papua New Guinea. Of 1,582 mosquitoes examined morphologically, 737 were identified as An. farauti s.l., 719 as An. koliensis, and 126 as An. punctulatus. All specimens identified morphologically as An. punctulatus were shown to be An. punctulatus by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, but the An. farauti and An. koliensis morphotypes consisted of three or more species including An. farauti s.s., An. farauti No. 2, and An. farauti No. 4. The biting cycles and role in malaria transmission of some of these species are described here for the first time. We also show evidence that An. koliensis could be a sub-complex of two or more species. The epidemiologic implications of our findings are discussed.