Project description
Is the African Loa loa deadlier than it looks?
More than 15 million people in central Africa have been diagnosed with loiasis. More than 100 million others are potentially exposed to this infectious disease caused by the parasitic worm Loa loa. While the medical community has considered this disease as benign since it was first recorded in 1770, the story is changing. Research shows that it can induce severe complications in various organs. To prove this, the EU-funded MorLo project will conduct the first-ever population-wide evaluation of morbidity in rural areas of central Africa. It will carry out a systematic examination of 4 900 selected individuals. The findings may lead to the global recognition of loiasis as a significant public health problem.
Objective
Loiasis, an infectious disease caused by the parasitic worm Loa loa, affects more than 15 million individuals in central Africa, and more than 100 million people are potentially exposed to infection. Since its first description in 1770, the international scientific community has considered this filarial disease as benign. I recently demonstrated that loiasis significantly reduces the life expectancy of infected people. I aim to definitively shift the prevailing paradigm of benign loiasis by showing that it can induce severe complications in various organs. I will conduct the first population-wide evaluation of morbidity in rural areas of Central Africa by performing systematic examinations on 4,900 selected individuals. This sample size will enable accurate estimation of prevalences of cardiovascular and renal diseases and of functional asplenia. Our results may lead to the recognition of loiasis as a significant public health problem. Such recognition could motivate integration of loiasis into the WHOs list of Neglected Tropical Diseases. In addition, should loiasis be found to induce a functional asplenia, combating this disease could have a huge impact on the incidence and severity of other severe and common infections favoured by asplenia, such as malaria and pneumonia. Incidentally, specific recommendations regarding pneumococcal vaccination in loiasis-endemic areas could be made. Another possible consequence of our findings is changes in the management of people identified as having high levels of Loa loa infection during routine surveys or onchocerciasis elimination activities. Presently, these people are excluded from ivermectin treatment (because of the risk of post-treatment encephalopathy), and little is done to lower their level of infection. Confirmation that loiasis can cause serious complications would motivate an ethical obligation to develop strategies to manage these cases in order to lower their burden of the disease.
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 infectious diseases parasitic diseases malaria
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine pneumology
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
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)
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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.
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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-STG - Starting Grant
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) ERC-2020-STG
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13572 Marseille
France
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