title: Seasonal effects in the elimination of trachoma.
abstract: The World Health Organization currently recommends annual mass antibiotic treatment to eliminate the ocular chlamydia that cause blinding trachoma. Active trachoma is believed to be seasonal in many areas of the world, and the optimal season in which to treat has not as yet been established. Here we use mathematical models of disease transmission to demonstrate that ideally, treatment should be administered before the low season to have the greatest chance of locally eliminating infection.
authors.affiliation: Francis I. Proctor Foundation, Department of Ophthalmology, Institute for Global Health, University of California, San Francisco 94143-0944, USA. dleeatfas@gmail.com <dleeatfas@gmail.com>
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jaya D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Chidambaram
authors.forename: Travis C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Porco
authors.forename: Thomas M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Lietman
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D012621:Seasons; D013269:Stochastic Processes; D014141:Trachoma / Q000517:prevention & control*