- Promotor
- Promotor
- Date
- Wednesday 25 Sep 2024, 10:30 - 12:00
- Type
- PhD defence
- Space
- Professor Andries Querido room
- Building
- Education Center
- Location
- Erasmus MC
On Wednesday 25 September 2024, T.K. Hambridge will defend the doctoral thesis titled: ‘Shortening Leprosy Case Detection Delay: Narrowing the window of transmission and disease progression'.
Brief summary:
Leprosy is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae that remains endemic in many areas of the world. It is classified as a neglected tropical disease (NTD), which refers to a diverse group of parasitic and bacterial infectious diseases that disproportionately affect poor and marginalised populations. Early diagnosis and treatment of leprosy is crucial for interrupting disease transmission and preventing disability. The primary objective of this thesis was to identify and explore effective strategies for reducing case detection delay in leprosy, defined as the period of time between onset of signs and symptoms and the diagnosis of leprosy.
To achieve this, the following three research questions were answered:
- What are the characteristics of leprosy cases and case detection delay in low and high endemic settings?
- How can we best describe and analyse leprosy case detection delay data?
- What is the potential epidemiological impact of interventions aimed at shortening the period of case detection delay?
- More information
The public defence will begin exactly at 10.30 hrs. The doors will be closed once the public defence starts, latecomers can access the hall via the fourth floor. Due to the solemn nature of the ceremony, children under the age of 6 are not allowed during the first part of the ceremony.