Strategies for the Control of Blinding Trachoma: Effect of Fly Spray

Trachoma is the leading infectious cause of blindness in the world. The World Health Organization (WHO), recognizing the important public health impact of trachoma, has adopted a resolution to eliminate blinding trachoma by the year 2020 (3). In order to accomplish this ambitious goal, WHO recommends the use of "SAFE" strategy for countries implementing trachoma control programs. This multi-faceted approach includes Surgery for trichiasis cases, Antibiotics to treat the community pool of infection, Face washing to reduce transmission, and Environmental change.

The environmental change component currently rests largely on efforts to reduce the fly populations in these communities. A pilot study and clinical trial using intense insecticide spraying reduced both flies and trachoma in a trachoma hypo-endemic area of The Gambia. In The Gambia setting, flies appear to be an important vector for trachoma, but it is not clear that flies are equally important in areas with hyper-endemic trachoma, nor is it known if fly control adds value to the provision of mass antibiotic treatment for active trachoma as part of the SAFE strategy.

The purpose of this community-based randomized trial was to determine, in trachoma hyper-endemic communities of Tanzania, the added value of intensive spraying to control flies on the fly population and on trachoma and ocular C. trachomatis infection at 6 months and one year after mass antibiotic treatment. Neighborhoods with intensive spraying (Intervention) and neighborhoods with no spraying (control) all received mass antibiotic treatment with azithromycin immediately prior to the start of the study, enabling us to evaluate the additional impact of fly control on trachoma.

Kongwa district in central Tanzania has been shown to have a high prevalence of active trachoma, and was chosen as the site of this study. We randomized sixteen balozi to receive either mass treatment with azithromycin alone (control), or mass treatment plus an intensive fly spraying program (intervention). Pre-school aged children are the reservoirs of infection and disease within these communities. Therefore, within each balozi, all children aged less than eight served as sentinel markers for the status of trachoma at baseline, 6 months, and one year after baseline. In the eight intervention balozi, 119 children from 87 families were enrolled at baseline, and in the eight control balozi, 183 children from 145 families were enrolled.

The balozis were surveyed and an area surrounding the intervention balozis was targeted for insecticide spray. A solution of 10% permethrin in water was used with a Hudson and MicronAir sprayer machines, At the outset, spraying was carried out every two days for two weeks (attack phase) then once per week (maintenance phase) for the rest of the study.