The Prevalence of Trachoma in Tigray Region, Northern Ethiopia: Results of 11 Population-Based Prevalence Surveys Completed as Part of the Global Trachoma Mapping Project

Abstract

Purpose: We aimed to estimate the prevalence of trachoma in each district (“woreda”) of Tigray Region, Ethiopia. Methods: We conducted 11 cross-sectional community-based surveys in evaluation units covering 34 rural woredas from January to March 2013 using the standardized methodology developed for the Global Trachoma Mapping Project. Results: Teams visited 8034 households in 275 villages. A total of 28,581 consenting individuals were examined, 16,163 (56.7%) of whom were female. The region-wide adjusted trichiasis prevalence was 1.7% in those aged 15 years and older. All evaluation units mapped had a trichiasis prevalence over the World Health Organization elimination threshold of 0.2% in people aged 15 years and older. The region-wide adjusted prevalence of the clinical sign trachomatous inflammation – follicular (TF) in children aged 1–9 years was 26.1%. A total 10 evaluation units, covering 31 woredas, with a combined rural population of 4.3 million inhabitants, had a prevalence of TF ≥10%, and require full implementation of the SAFE strategy (surgery, antibiotics, facial cleanliness, and environmental improvement) for at least 3 years before impact surveys are undertaken. Of these, four evaluation units, covering 12 woredas, with a combined rural population of 1.7 million inhabitants, had a TF prevalence ≥30%. Conclusion: Both active trachoma and trichiasis are public health problems in Tigray, which needs urgent implementation of the full SAFE strategy.

Prevalence and associated factors of active trachoma among 1–9 years old children in Deguatemben, Tigray, Ethiopia, 2018: community cross-sectional study

“…In contrast, the prevalence of active trachoma among children in our study is higher than the study findings of Ghana 5.6 and 3.5%, and Gambia 2.8% after control activities [25,26]. Besides, it is higher than the study findings of evaluation units of Welkait, Tsegedae, Tahtay, and Laelay-Adiabo even without any intervention according to the GTMP result of Tigray region [11]. This difference could be attributed due to the difference in the study setting, study period, intervention and baseline difference in the prevalence of active trachoma in the communities.…”

“…The prevalence of active trachoma in the district was found to be 21.5% (17.8-25.1%) 1 year after three rounds of mass drug administration. Though there is a decline in the prevalence of TF from 44.7% in the baseline to 18.7% after three rounds of MDA, it is far above the 10% treatment threshold [11]. This might be related to the effectiveness of the trachoma control program of MDA with a high coverage rate.…”

“…All 34 rural woredas of Tigray had been mapped and revealed that 1.7 million (about 40%) people live in hyper-endemic districts of the region and active trachoma prevalence among 1-9 years old children is 26.1%. Deguatemben woreda is one of the 12 woredas with the prevalence of active trachoma among children 1-9 years old ≥30% [11].…”

Prevalence of trachoma in Yemen: results of population-based prevalence surveys of 42 evaluation units in nine governorates

“…The exception to this is the trichiasis prevalence estimate for Ma'rib, which we have not reported here because (due to the fact that an unexpectedly large proportion of adults were working outside the governorate) only 25 adults were examined in the EU as a whole. In the remainder, relatively low prevalences of TF (compared to those recorded in many parts of Ethiopia, [19][20][21] for example) were matched by low prevalences of trichiasis. Only eight EUs had TF prevalences in 1-9-year-olds ≥5%, and only five had trichiasis prevalence in ≥15-year-olds ≥0.2%, indicating a need for public health-level action.…”

A Population-Based Trachoma Prevalence Survey Covering Seven Districts of Sangha and Likouala Departments, Republic of the Congo

“…This is good news for the global trachoma community, which is currently working to achieve global elimination targets set more than two decades ago. 32 As in many of the environments in which the GTMP operated, 3,20,[33][34][35][36] local conditions in Congo made fieldwork a complicated business. The villages sampled here were mostly distributed along more-or-less-navigable rivers, on land that was often flooded.…”