Descrizione del progetto
Interrompere la trasmissione della tripanosomiasi africana umana gambiense
La tripanosomiasi africana umana gambiense (gHAT) è una malattia tropicale trascurata che viene causata da parassiti tripanosomiali e, se non trattata, risulta quasi sempre fatale. Le opzioni terapeutiche a disposizione sono limitate e tradizionalmente tossiche, determinando procedure diagnostiche complesse; di conseguenza, molti pazienti (fino alla metà) non ricevono le cure di cui hanno bisogno. In questo contesto, il progetto STROGHAT, finanziato dall'UE, valuterà un nuovo approccio del tipo «diag» utilizzando l'acoziborolo, un farmaco orale sicuro e monodose che ha dimostrato un'efficacia del 98,1% in studi recenti. La strategia applicata dal progetto semplificherà le procedure diagnostiche e renderà più accessibili le cure nella regione di riferimento dell'Equatore settentrionale, in Congo, contribuendo al raggiungimento biettivo di eliminare la trasmissione della gHAT entro il 2030.
Obiettivo
Gambiense human African trypanosomiasis (gHAT) is a neglected tropical disease caused by trypanosome parasites. gHAT is fatal if left untreated. So far, treatment options for gHAT were limited and toxic, forcing control programs to avoid overtreatment through complex diagnostic procedures, including screening with a serological test, laborious microscopic confirmation of seropositives and lumbar puncture for disease stage determination. This resulted in loss of up to 50% of gHAT cases, which remained untreated. Recently a non-toxic single dose oral drug, acoziborole, has shown 98.1% efficacy in a phase III trial, irrespective of gHAT disease stage. Acoziborole removes the need for lumbar puncture and appears safe enough to treat serological suspects without microscopic confirmation (Screen & treat). The STROGHAT project 1° will evaluate effectiveness of a Screen & treat approach to rapidly reduce gHAT prevalence in an entire focus; 2° will extend acoziborole safety documentation; 3° and will analyze costs of this new approach. To achieve these objectives, Screen & treat will be implemented, actively and passively, for 3 consecutive years in the gHAT focus of Nord Equateur in D.R. Congo. Available geographical information will be exploited to specifically target villages where gHAT was recently, or still is present. Detection at a reference laboratory, of the trypanosomes nucleic acids in blood collected before treatment, will retrospectively identify true gHAT cases among the treated serological suspects. After 3 years of intervention, the gHAT prevalence in the focus will be re-estimated. STROGHAT intends to provide the first evidence for recommending Screen & treat to national HAT control programs for elimination of gHAT. Through facilitated diagnosis, increased acceptability and access to treatment, STROGHAT will contribute to achieving the goal of stopping gHAT transmission by 2030, as defined by the World Health Organization.
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
- HORIZON.2.1 - Health Main Programme
Argomento(i)
Invito a presentare proposte
(si apre in una nuova finestra) HORIZON-JU-GH-EDCTP3-2022-01
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HORIZON-JU-RIA -Coordinatore
2000 ANTWERPEN
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