ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT04099628DiTECT-HAT-WP3Updated Apr 15, 2022

Diagnostic Tools for Human African Trypanosomiasis Elimination and Clinical Trials: WP3 Post Elimination Monitoring

An interventional study of Rapid diagnostic test (RDT); Serological and molecular tests on DBS in Human African Trypanosomiasis, Sleeping Sickness and Trypanosoma Brucei Gambiense; Infection, sponsored by Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement. Completed at 3 sites in 3 countries. Open to participants aged 4 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2022-04-15.

Sponsored by Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement · Not applicable, Interventional, and Diagnostic

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
13,747
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
4 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This study determines the feasibility, diagnostic performance and cost for monitoring of eliminated human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) foci using diagnostic algorithms of serological and molecular high throughput tests with and without previous rapid diagnostic test blood screening for early detection of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense HAT re-emergence.

Read the detailed description

In the last decade, the prevalence of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense (Tbg) human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) has fallen and HAT has been targeted for elimination. At low disease prevalence, HAT control is increasingly integrated into routine activities of peripheral health centres. However, the weak capacity of fixed health structures to implement control activities, lack of coverage, the unspecific clinical picture of HAT, and the existence of asymptomatic cases and animal reservoirs may result in under detection of HAT. To ensure sustainability of zero transmission and to avoid re-emergence caused by remaining Tbg reservoirs, continued post-elimination monitoring is therefore required.

Health workers performing house to house visits in foci with very low HAT prevalence can easily collect blood on filter paper and send it to regional HAT reference centres for analysis. The objective of the DiTECT-HAT-WP3 study is to determine the feasibility and cost of diagnostic algorithms of serological and molecular high-throughput tests on blood on filter paper for post-elimination monitoring, with or without a previous screening with rapid diagnostic tests.

In villages in low to zero prevalence foci in Democratic Republic (DR) Congo, Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso, a health worker will go from house to house to 1) register all consenting inhabitants in a Personal Digital Assistant; 2) take a blood sample on filter paper 3) perform 3 rapid diagnostic tests. All dried blood spots (DBS) are sent to the reference laboratory for high-throughput testing (ELISA, trypanolysis, loop-mediated isothermal amplification method (LAMP) and real time (RT) -PCR). Subjects positive in at least 1 test - the RDTs or high-throughput tests - are revisited twice for parasitological confirmation.

In each country, blood specimens of 6000 persons will be tested. The relative effectiveness and overall cost of the different diagnostic algorithms will be investigated. We will quantify the break-even point for an imperfect test algorithm by formulating a decision criterion to assess how many false negatives, but particularly how many false positives can be tolerated while still achieving an intervention with a reasonable cost burden. The results will enable us to propose a test algorithm and a threshold to send out specialised mobile teams for stopping HAT re-emergence, without unnecessarily raising the alarm.

02

Conditions studied

  • Human African Trypanosomiasis
  • Sleeping Sickness
  • Trypanosoma Brucei Gambiense; Infection
  • West African Sleeping Sickness
  • African Trypanosomiases
  • Trypanosomiasis; African, Due to Trypanosoma Brucei Gambiense, Gambiense

Keywords

  • monitoring
  • surveillance
  • re-emergence
  • rapid diagnostic test
  • trypanolysis
  • LAMP
  • ELISA
  • molecular biology
  • RT-PCR
  • serology
  • diagnosis
  • specificity
  • sensitivity
03

In context

Trypanosomiasis, African

26 studies on the registry are indexed under Trypanosomiasis, African; 1 is open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 13,747 is above the median of 155 across 24 interventional studies indexed under Trypanosomiasis, African.

Browse Trypanosomiasis, African studies →

Lead sponsor

Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement is the lead sponsor of 49 studies on the registry; 4 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
4 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Permanent resident of village (in low to zero prevalence HAT focus) for minimum 1 year

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Previously treated for HAT (irrespective of time elapsed since treatment)
  • No
  • \< 4 years old
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(1)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Diagnostic
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
13,747 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Diagnostic tests

    Diagnostic tests: Rapid diagnostic test (RDT); Serological and molecular tests on DBS

    Diagnostic Test: Rapid diagnostic test (RDT); Serological and molecular tests on DBS

Interventions

  • Diagnostic testRapid diagnostic test (RDT); Serological and molecular tests on DBS

    The population of low to zero prevalence HAT foci will be actively screened for HAT by taking a blood sample for performing 3 rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) and for preparing dried blood spots to perform 4 serological and molecular high throughput reference tests. If at least one of the RDTs, serological or molecular reference tests is positive, parasitological examination is performed twice. The combined results of parasitological examinations serve as reference standard. Other Names: rHAT Sero-Strip (Coris Bioconcept, Belgium) SD Bioline HAT 1.0 (Standard Diagnostics Korea) HAT Sero-K-Set (Coris Bioconcept, Belgium) Immune trypanolysis: presence of antibodies ELISA: on native LiTat 1.3 + LiTat 1.5 variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) LAMP T. brucei Detection Kit (Eiken) RT-PCR: Trypanozoon 18S, Tbg Trypanosoma gambiense specific glycoprotein (TgsGP)

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Sensitivity for HAT diagnosis of RDT, RDT combinations, algorithms of RDT and serological and/or molecular tests on the population at risk

    Index tests: 3 RDTs on fresh blood, immune trypanolysis on DBS, ELISA on DBS, LAMP on DBS, RT-PCR on DBS. Reference standard: for index test positives only: combined results of 2 parasitological examinations. Subjects negative in all index tests are considered HAT negative.

    Time frame: 6 months

  2. Specificity for HAT diagnosis of RDT, RDT combinations, algorithms of RDT and serological and/or molecular tests on the population at risk

    Index tests: 3 RDTs on fresh blood, immune trypanolysis on DBS, ELISA on DBS, LAMP on DBS, RT-PCR on DBS. Reference standard: for index test positives only: combined results of 2 parasitological examinations. Subjects negative in all index tests are considered HAT negative.

    Time frame: 6 months

07

Study locations

3 sites
  • CIRDES
    Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso
  • Programme Nationale de Lutte contre la trypanosomiase humaine Africaine
    Kinshasa, Congo, The Democratic Republic of the
  • Institut Pierre Richet, Institut National de Santé Publique
    Bouaké, Côte D'Ivoire
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Yes

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Ran from Sep 2019 to primary completion in Jan 2021, 16 months.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Sep 19, 2019
First posted
Sep 23, 2019
StartActual
Sep 1, 2019
Primary completionActual
Jan 31, 2021
CompletionActual
Jan 31, 2021
Last update
Apr 15, 2022
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Apr 15, 2022, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04099628
Lead sponsor
Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement
Collaborators
Ministry of Public Health, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Institut National de Sante Publique, CIRDES, Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale. Kinshasa, République Démocratique du Congo, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium, University of Liverpool
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Sep 23, 2019
Start date
Sep 1, 2019
Primary completion
Jan 31, 2021
Completion
Jan 31, 2021
Last update
Apr 15, 2022

Study contacts

Veerle Lejon, PhD, HDR
principal investigator · Institut de Rechercher pour le Développement

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Apr 2022. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Start the discussion