A biological model of scabies infection dynamics and treatment informs mass drug administration strategies to increase the likelihood of elimination

MJ Lydeamore; PT Campbell; DG Regan; SYC Tong; RM Andrews; AC Steer; L Romani; JM Kaldor; J McVernon; JM McCaw

Journal article

A biological model of scabies infection dynamics and treatment informs mass drug administration strategies to increase the likelihood of elimination

MJ Lydeamore, PT Campbell, DG Regan, SYC Tong, RM Andrews, AC Steer, L Romani, JM Kaldor, J McVernon, JM McCaw

Mathematical Biosciences | ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC | Published : 2019

DOI: 10.1016/j.mbs.2018.08.007

Abstract

Infections with Sarcoptes scabiei, or scabies, remain common in many disadvantaged populations. Mass drug administration (MDA) has been used in such settings to achieve a rapid reduction in infection and transmission, with the goal of eliminating the public health burden of scabies. While prevalence has been observed to fall substantially following such an intervention, in some instances resurgence of infection to baseline levels has occurred over several years. To explore the biology underpinning this phenomenon, we have developed a theoretical model of scabies life-cycle and transmission dynamics in a homogeneously mixing population, and simulate the impact of mass drug treatment strategie..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Patricia Campbell Author

Steven Tong Author

Andrew Steer Author

Jodie McVernon Author

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Grants

Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council

Funding Acknowledgements

M.J. Lydeamore is supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award; J. McVernon is supported by an NHMRC Career Development Fellowship (CDF1061321); J. M. McCaw is supported by an ARC Future Fellowship (FT110100250). D.G. Regan is supported by an NHMRC Program Grant (APP1071269); S. Y. C. Tong is supported by an NHMRC Career Development Fellowship (CDF1145033); We thank the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Infectious Diseases Modelling to Inform Public Health Policy (1078068). This work is supported by an NHMRC Project Grant titled 'Optimising intervention strategies to reduce the burden of Group A Streptococcus in Aboriginal Communities' (APP1098319).