The influence of the mass administration of XXXX , alone or with @entity3753 , on the prevalence of filarial antigenaemia.

@entity3753 @entity1 @entity6566 @entity6567 @entity3754 @entity10065 @entity1865
The current Indian campaign for the elimination of @entity3754 is largely based on mass drug administration ( @entity1865 ). As part of this campaign, villagers in the Tirukoilur and Mugaiyur 'blocks' (i.e. revenue units) of Villupuram district, in Tamil Nadu, India, were treated with @entity6566 ( @entity6567 ), either alone (Mugaiyur) or with @entity3753 (Tirukoilur), in March 2001. The efficacy of treatment, in each of the two treatment arms, was evaluated by determining the percentages of the subjects who were carrying antigen from adult @entity10065 before, 6 months and 12 months after the @entity1865 . In a cross-sectional survey at each time-point, commercial, immunochromatographic tests were used to check 1000-1200, randomly selected, young residents (aged 2-25 years) of 18 index villages for the antigen; at least 300 villagers aged 2-9 years and at least 170 aged 10-25 years from each treatment arm were screened in each survey. Before the @entity1865 , 12.7% of the subjects aged 2-9 years and 23.6% of those aged 10-25 years were found to be positive for the filarial antigen. Although only about 50% of villagers aged 2-9 years were successfully treated, @entity1865 (with @entity6567 alone or @entity6567 plus @entity3753 ) led to a significant (28.7%) reduction in the prevalence of antigenaemia in this age-group 6 months later (P<0.05). Although, the prevalences of antigenaemia among those aged 2-9 years were higher 12 months post-treatment than 6 months post-treatment, they were still lower (by 16%-23%) than those observed pre-treatment. The addition of @entity3753 to the @entity6567 treatment appeared to offer no additional benefit in terms of the prevalence of antigenaemia in @entity1 aged <10 years; in fact, the use of @entity6567 alone produced a slightly greater reduction in the prevalence of antigenaemia than the use of both @entity6567 and @entity3753 . In the block given @entity1865 based on both @entity6567 and @entity3753 , the prevalences of antigenaemia among the villagers aged 10-25 years were 19.4% and 16.6% lower 6 and 12 months post-treatment, respectively, than observed pre-treatment. Curiously, in the block given @entity6567 alone, the prevalences in this age-group were higher at both post-treatment follow-ups (by 17.4% at 6 months and 35.1% at 12 months) than observed pre-treatment. In concurrent experimental studies, high drug compliance (90%) among young @entity1 (aged 2-5 years) led to a pronounced (62.6%) reduction in the prevalence of antigenaemia after one @entity1865 . In follow-up studies of those found antigen-positive, 40% of those aged 2-9 years but only 23% of those aged 10-25 years cleared their antigenaemias after three (annual) @entity1865 . To maximize the benefits of @entity1865 , greater efforts should be made to increase treatment coverage among young @entity1 .
