Field Studies on the Feasibility of Interrupting the Transmission of Soil-transmitted Helminths (STH)

January 5, 2026 updated by: Judd Walson, University of Washington

Field Studies on the Feasibility of Interrupting the Transmission of Soil-transmitted Helminths (STH) DeWorm3 Project

Over 1.5 billion people are infected with soil-transmitted helminths (STH). Global STH guidelines recommend MDA (mass drug administration) of albendazole or mebendazole to targeted populations, including pre-school age children and school-age children. However mathematical models suggests that current MDA strategies are not sufficient for interrupting disease transmission in most areas. Meanwhile many lymphatic filariasis (LF) programs have successfully treated entire populations with albendazole (in combination with ivermectin or diethylcarbamazine) and are transitioning to a state of post-MDA surveillance. This project will conduct a series of community-based cluster randomized trials in India, Malawi, and Benin to determine if maintaining three years of MDA with albendazole to entire communities following the cessation of LF programs can interrupt STH transmission in focal geographic areas. Additionally, this study aims to compare the efficacy of community-wide MDA versus targeted MDA of children in interrupting the transmission of STH. Nested implementation science research will be used to optimize the intervention, identify contextual factors influencing trial efficacy, and evaluate the feasibility of sustaining and scaling community-wide MDA for STH. These data will provide evidence necessary to inform future guidelines, policies, and operational plans as country partners engage in intensified approaches to eliminate these disabling diseases.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

357716

Phase

  • Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Benin
      • Comé, Benin
        • Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement
  • India
      • Vellore, India
        • Christian Medical College
  • Malawi
      • Mangochi, Malawi
        • London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

2 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Treatment Inclusion Criteria:

  • Ages 12 months and older

Treatment Exclusion Criteria:

  • Children under 12 months of age
  • Pregnant women in their first trimester
  • History of adverse reaction to benzimidazoles

Outcome Sampling Inclusion Criteria:

  • Resident of study clusters
  • Ages 12 months and older
  • Willingness of adult aged 18 years and above (or age as per country specific ethical guidelines) or parent/guardian of child to provide written informed consent
  • Provision of written assent to participate from children aged 8 years and above (or age as per country specific ethical guidelines)

Outcome Sampling Exclusion Criteria:

  • Less than 12 months of age
  • Individuals who do not typically reside in the study cluster
  • Nonconsenting or assenting individuals, as applicable

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Community-wide deworming
Twice-yearly community-wide treatment delivered by drug distributors door to door or via community gatherings, depending upon the format of the prior LF program, for three years. All individuals above the age of 12 months will receive a single dose of albendazole.
Drug: Albendazole
All eligible individuals will receive a single dose of 400 mg albendazole.
Other Names:
  • Albenza
Active Comparator: Targeted deworming
Pre-school (pre-SAC) and school-age children (SAC) 12 months of age and older will receive albendazole delivered in accordance with national Ministry of Health guidelines for three years.
Drug: Albendazole
All eligible individuals will receive a single dose of 400 mg albendazole.
Other Names:
  • Albenza

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Comparison of Arms - Benin
Time Frame: 5 years (Three years of drug administration and two years of surveillance)
Individual-level soil-transmitted helminth species-specific endline quantitative PCR prevalence
5 years (Three years of drug administration and two years of surveillance)
Comparison of Arms - India
Time Frame: 5 years (Three years of drug administration and two years of surveillance)
Individual-level soil-transmitted helminth species-specific endline quantitative PCR prevalence
5 years (Three years of drug administration and two years of surveillance)
Comparison of Arms - Malawi
Time Frame: 5 years (Three years of drug administration and two years of surveillance)
Individual-level soil-transmitted helminth species-specific endline quantitative PCR prevalence
5 years (Three years of drug administration and two years of surveillance)
N. Americanus Transmission Interruption - Benin
Time Frame: 5 years (Three years of drug administration and two years of surveillance)
Prevalence of N. americanus infection ≤2% 24 months following the final round of mass drug administration with albendazole
5 years (Three years of drug administration and two years of surveillance)
N. Americanus Transmission Interruption - India
Time Frame: 5 years (Three years of drug administration and two years of surveillance)
Prevalence of N. americanus infection ≤2% 24 months following the final round of mass drug administration with albendazole
5 years (Three years of drug administration and two years of surveillance)
N. Americanus Transmission Interruption - Malawi
Time Frame: 5 years (Three years of drug administration and two years of surveillance)
Prevalence of N. americanus infection ≤2% 24 months following the final round of mass drug administration with albendazole
5 years (Three years of drug administration and two years of surveillance)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
N. Americanus Transmission Interruption - Pooled
Time Frame: 5 years (Three years of drug administration and two years of surveillance)
Prevalence of N. americanus infection ≤2% 24 months following the final round of mass drug administration with albendazole
5 years (Three years of drug administration and two years of surveillance)
Comparison of Arms - Pooled
Time Frame: 5 years (Three years of drug administration and two years of surveillance)
Individual-level soil-transmitted helminth species-specific endline quantitative PCR prevalence
5 years (Three years of drug administration and two years of surveillance)
STH Transmission Interruption - Pooled
Time Frame: 5 years (Three years of drug administration and two years of surveillance)
Prevalence of STH infection ≤2% 24 months following the final round of mass drug administration with albendazole
5 years (Three years of drug administration and two years of surveillance)
STH Transmission Interruption - Benin
Time Frame: 5 years (Three years of drug administration and two years of surveillance)
Prevalence of STH infection ≤2% 24 months following the final round of mass drug administration with albendazole
5 years (Three years of drug administration and two years of surveillance)
STH Transmission Interruption - India
Time Frame: 5 years (Three years of drug administration and two years of surveillance)
Prevalence of STH infection ≤2% 24 months following the final round of mass drug administration with albendazole
5 years (Three years of drug administration and two years of surveillance)
STH Transmission Interruption - Malawi
Time Frame: 5 years (Three years of drug administration and two years of surveillance)
Prevalence of STH infection ≤2% 24 months following the final round of mass drug administration with albendazole
5 years (Three years of drug administration and two years of surveillance)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Washington

Collaborators

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Imperial College London
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Swiss Tropical & Public Health Institute
Christian Medical College, Vellore, India
Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement
Institut de Recherche Clinique du Bénin (IRCB)
Blantyre Institute for Community Ophthalmology (BICO)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Judd L Walson, MD, MPH, University of Washington, Departments of Global Health, Medicine (Infectious Disease), Pediatrics and Epidemiology

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

October 4, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 2, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

July 2, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 30, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 5, 2017

First Posted (Estimated)

January 9, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 22, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 5, 2026

Last Verified

July 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • STUDY00000180
  • 1R01AI155739-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

Yes

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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