The Starworms consortium has recently published the study protocol for eight drug efficacy trials that will be performed in the near future as part of the second work-package of the Starworms project.
The main objective of the project is to pilot a surveillance system to assess anthelmintic drug efficacy and the emergence of anthelmintic resistance in eight countries were preventive chemotherapy (PC) coverage has been high for at least five years.
It is expected that the results will provide important information on (i) the current STH prevalence and intensity of infections after multiple rounds of intense PC; (ii) global patters of efficacy of benzimidazole drug administered in the control program and (iii) the presence of genetic markers associated with benzimidazole drug resistance. Besides the research findings, this study will also form an important resource for countries that want to establish their own surveillance system and for future research on the molecular detection of AR.
This detailed description of the study rationale, study methods and plan of analysis presented in this manuscript are thought to form a valuable reference document for when study results are published in the future. What’s more, we also included a substantial amount of additional information, comprising detailed Standard Operating Procedures, summarized study protocols and informed consent forms in different languages (English, French and Spanish) to expand the scope of possible users. We therefore believe that the current protocol is of important interest for the whole community involved in monitoring the global STH status.
Happy reading from the Starworms team!
