Lymphatic Filariases — Prevalence Studies After Triple Drug Therapy for Lymphatic Filariasis
Citation(s)
Hooper PJ, Chu BK, Mikhailov A, Ottesen EA, Bradley M Assessing progress in reducing the at-risk population after 13 years of the global programme to eliminate lymphatic filariasis. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2014 Nov 20;8(11):e3333. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003333. eCollection 2014 Nov.
World Health Organization Assessing the epidmiology of soil-transmitted helminths during a transmission assessment survey in the global programme for the elimination of lymphatic filariasis. 2015. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/153240/1/9789241508384_eng.pdf. Accessed October 12, 2017.
World Health Organization Monitoring and Epidemiological Assessment of Mass Drug Administration in Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis: A Manual for National Elimination Programmes. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2011. http://www.who.int/lymphatic_filariasis/resources/9789241501484/en/. Accessed October 11, 2017.
Community Studies to Monitor the Impact of Triple Drug Therapy Relative to Double Drug Therapy on Lymphatic Filariasis Infection Indicators
Interventional studies are often prospective and are specifically tailored to evaluate direct impacts of treatment or preventive measures on disease.
Observational studies are often retrospective and are used to assess potential causation in exposure-outcome relationships and therefore influence preventive methods.
Expanded access is a means by which manufacturers make investigational new drugs available, under certain circumstances, to treat a patient(s) with a serious disease or condition who cannot participate in a controlled clinical trial.
Clinical trials are conducted in a series of steps, called phases - each phase is designed to answer a separate research question.
Phase 1: Researchers test a new drug or treatment in a small group of people for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects.
Phase 2: The drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.
Phase 3: The drug or treatment is given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely.
Phase 4: Studies are done after the drug or treatment has been marketed to gather information on the drug's effect in various populations and any side effects associated with long-term use.
