Measuring impact on filarial infection status in a community study: role of coverage of mass drug administration (MDA).

Lymphatic filariasis is still endemic in many parts of India. The main strategy to implement mass drug administration with DEC and albendazole was added in 2006 to ensure increased impact on the microfilaria (mf) rate in the community. However, the effective coverage remained low in the community leading to lower than desired impact on the parasite population in human. This paper presents the dynamics of participation in annual repeated rounds of mass drug administration in some villages of Kanpur Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh and its impact over the infection rate. It is revealed that after 6 annual rounds of MDA, mf rate could only be reduced by 17.3% in population subgroups who participated only once in comparison to 88% in those who participated in 6 or all annual rounds.