Objective
TB is transmitted via person-to-person aerosols. Recent studies suggests that in TB endemic areas up to 70% of transmission events take place outside the household in public places. Moreover, TB transmission is unequally spatially distributed and occurs in transmission hotspot areas. Mathematical models consequently demonstrated that identifying hotspots and blocking within-hotspot-transmission through targeted public health interventions will be the most efficient way of lowering the TB burden. In the present PoC proposal we aim to complement the population-based Enhanced-Case-Finding intervention tested in the INTERRUPTB study, with a spatially more targeted “Enhanced-Place-Finding” (EPF) approach to identify transmission hotspots in an unbiased fashion. Using traditional methods to find transmission hotspots can only be done retrospectively after years of data collection. Therefore we propose a novel EPF strategy to detect transmission hotspots in real-time using phone-tracking technology to establish a spatial map of aggregated TB patients movements. Within the ERC-funded INTERRUPTB study in The Gambia, we sequenced 2000 mycobacterial isolates, which allows us to establish a bacterial genetic transmission network. Within the PoC proposal, we seek to reconsent these patients to analyze their everyday movements using classical contact investigation complemented by phone tracking, to determine which public places have an increased risk of TB transmission. We aim to demonstrate that phone tracking of TB patients can be a cheap, easy, and, most importantly, prospective TB transmission hotspots identification tool, no longer requiring molecular epidemiological investigations. Such a finding can ultimately be developed into an app that warns national TB programs of early TB outbreaks, so that early public health measures like increased ventilation and active case finding can be initiated. This approach can furthermore be applied to other infectious diseases.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences health sciences public health
- medical and health sciences health sciences infectious diseases
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine pneumology tuberculosis
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-POC - Proof of Concept Grant
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2016-PoC
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
2000 ANTWERPEN
Belgium
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.