A comparison of the efficacy of single doses of albendazole, ivermectin, and diethylcarbamazine alone or in combinations against Ascaris and Trichuris spp.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy of single doses of albendazole, ivermectin and diethylcarbamazine, and of the combinations albendazole + ivermectin and albendazole + diethylcarbamazine against common intestinal helminthiases caused by Ascaris and Trichuris spp. METHODS: In a randomized, placebo-controlled trial, infected children were randomly assigned to treatment with albendazole + placebo, ivermectin + placebo, diethylcarbamazine + placebo, albendazole + ivermectin, or albendazole + diethylcarbamazine. The Kato-Katz method was used for qualitative and quantitative parasitological diagnosis. The chi² test was used to determine the significance of cure rates, repeated measures analysis of variance for the comparison of mean log egg counts, the Newman-Keuls procedure for multiple comparison tests, and logistic regression for the comparison of infection rates at days 180 and 360 after treatment. FINDINGS: Albendazole, ivermectin and the drug combinations gave significantly higher cure and egg reduction rates for ascariasis than diethylcarbamazine. For trichuriasis, albendazole + ivermectin gave significantly higher cure and egg reduction rates than the other treatments: the infection rates were lower 180 and 360 days after treatment. CONCLUSION: Because of the superiority of albendazole + ivermectin against both lymphatic filariasis and trichuriasis, this combination appears to be a suitable tool for the integrated or combined control of both public health problems

Multi-messenger Observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger

International audienceOn 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of $\sim 1.7\,{\rm{s}}$ with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg(2) at a luminosity distance of ${40}_{-8}^{+8}$ Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 $\,{M}_{\odot }$. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at $\sim 40\,{\rm{Mpc}}$) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One-Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ∼10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position $\sim 9$ and $\sim 16$ days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC 4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta