For more information about why I am creating this new thread, please see here:
forum.susana.org/forum/categories/10-gen...d-sub-category-level

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This thread is a "sticky thread" which means it will always remain at the top of this sub-category. It contains a recommendation and orientation for newcomers regarding the most important five documents and website links in this thematic area. There are a range of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and several types of helminth infections, e.g. the soil-transmitted helminth infections, are classified as being NTDs. For this reason, this sticky post is focusing on helminth infections (the medical term is helminthiasis).

Note that mass deworming of children is a closely related, and sometimes controversial, topic. An excellent up-to-date overview with important references is given in the Wikipedia article on this topic, thanks to the editing work of Joe Turner, mainly: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_deworming


Recommended top 5 documents in the thematic area of "Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), intestinal worm infections (helminthiasis)", in reverse chronological order:

(1)
WHO (2015). Water sanitation and hygiene for accelerating and sustaining progress on neglected tropical diseases. A global strategy 2015-2020. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/publ...and-ntd-strategy/en/

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are critical in the prevention and care for all of the 17 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) scheduled for intensified control or elimination by 2020. Provision of safe water, sanitation and hygiene is one of the five key interventions within the global NTD roadmap. Yet to date, the WASH component of the strategy has received little attention and the potential to link efforts on WASH and NTDs has been largely untapped. This strategy aims to mobilise WASH and NTD actors to work together towards the roadmap targets.

(2)
Strunz, E.C., Addiss, D.G., Stocks, M.E., Ogden, S., Utzinger, J., Freeman, M.C. (2014). Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Soil-Transmitted Helminth Infection: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. PLOS Medicine 11: e1001620. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001620.
journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?i...journal.pmed.1001620

Preventive chemotherapy represents a powerful but short-term control strategy for soil-transmitted helminthiasis. Since humans are often re-infected rapidly, long-term solutions require improvements in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). The purpose of this study was to quantitatively summarize the relationship between WASH access or practices and soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infection.

(3)
WHO (2012). Eliminating soil-transmitted helminthiases as a public health problem in children. Progress report 2001-2010 and strategic plan 2011-2020. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/44804/1/9789241503129_eng.pdf

Eliminating soil-transmitted helminthiasis as a public health problem in children: progress report 2001–2010 and strategic plan 2011–2020 reports the progress made during the first 10 years of implementing control programmes, and identifies new opportunities and challenges for scaling up control activities. A timeline is proposed for achieving the 75% coverage target by 2020.

(4)
Ziegelbauer, K., Speich, B., Mäusezahl, D., Bos, R., Keiser, J., Utzinger, J. (2012). Effect of Sanitation on Soil-Transmitted Helminth Infection: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. PLoS Medicine 9(1): e1001162. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001162
www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/1675

In countries of high endemicity of the soil-transmitted helminth parasites Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, and hookworm, preventive chemotherapy is the main strategy to control morbidity. However, rapid reinfection of humans occurs after successful deworming, and therefore effective preventive measures are required. Therefore a systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to assess the effect of sanitation on infection with soil-transmitted helminths.

(5)
Jimenez-Cisneros, B. E. (2007). Helminth ova control in wastewater and sludge for agricultural reuse. Chapter in Water and Health (editor: W. O. K. Grabow) in Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), UNESCO, Eolss Publishers, Oxford, UK
www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/1497

This document presents useful information for environmental and sanitary engineers concerning: (a) the general characteristics of the helminth ova; (b) the common helminth ova genus found in wastewater and sludge around the world; (c) the reason why common water and sludge disinfection methods are not effective at inactivating helminth eggs; (d) the main removal and inactivation mechanisms, (e) the processes that in practice have effectively removed or inactivated helminth ova and (f) how its content is measured in wastewater and sludge.

You can find further important documents and website links dealing with this topic here:

• Filter documents in SuSanA library by using the filter for Working Group 4 on "Sanitation systems, hygiene, health" - this brings up these documents:
  www.susana.org/en/resources/library?vbl_...5D=&vbl_8%5B41%5D=41 (this working group includes the topic "health", although more from a health risk management perspective)
• Or put as a search term "helminth" in the SuSanA library search field, which brings up these ones: www.susana.org/en/resources/library?search=helminth
• There are also several projects in the project database dealing with helminth infections: www.susana.org/en/resources/projects?search=helminth
• This project by UNESCO funded by the Gates Foundation should produce a very important new publication on this topic by April 2017: "Global Water Pathogen Project - Publishing a state-of-the-art reference work on water-related disease risks and intervention measures to replace Sanitation and Disease Health Aspects of Excreta and Wastewater Management by Feachem et al, 1983." (see: forum.susana.org/forum/categories/26-hea...tion-measures-unesco)
• WHO factsheet on soil-transmitted helminth infections: www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs366/en/
• See also the related sticky post on determining helminth egg quantities: xx (yet to insert)


• Wikipedia pages on topics concerning intestinal worm infections (note each of these pages has an extensive reference list; also take a look at the respective talk page for each article, accessible by clicking on "talk" on the top left):
  • Helminthiasis: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helminthiasis
  • Helminths: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helminths
  • Ascaris lumbricoides: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascaris_lumbricoides - many of the other helminth types also have their own Wikipedia pages (you can find them via the helminthiasis page above)
  • Mass deworming: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_deworming
  • Neglected tropical diseases: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neglected_tropical_diseases
  
  
  • Soil-transmitted helminthiasis: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil-transmitted_helminthiasis

There is also a connection between helminth infections and the topic of nutrition and stunted growth in children, which has its own sticky thread with key documents, see here:
forum.susana.org/forum/categories/92-nut...n-nutrition-and-wash

Please provide your feedback. What do you think of this selection?

Regards,
Elisabeth