16th-21st June 2019

After a quick overnight stop in Marofatsy, we continued the rest of our 25km trek to Betampona. We were greeted in Betampona with a lovely reception from the school teachers, headmaster, local doctor and village chiefs. Everyone was served a cup of warm lemon tea which went down a treat after a very wet hike!

Work was quickly underway with microscopes set up, information talks taking place and consenting of the children. Some issues with the generator meant Steve, Hannah and Graham, as well as about 15 men from the village soon became electricity experts.

Alice went out to continue looking for snails at different water contact sites around the village and in particular looked for biomphalaria snails – the snail that is involved in the life cycle of schistosomiasis mansoni. (intestinal schistosomiasis).

After a couple of days of collecting snails and leaving them in the sunshine in water to allow them to shed the parasite, Alice very excitedly was able to stain and see the parasite down the microscope! This is the first time this has been done in this part of Madagascar!

There were some big cheers from everyone including the locals and teachers!

This is a big step for confirming the presence of schistosomiasis mansoni. in this region, and in particular for informing and educating local people about its presence and the bodies of water they should try to avoid. It is also very important for helping the population visualise and understand the parasite and it’s impact better.

At the end of our time in Betampona Steve, Manu, Tahiry and Gina had to head back to Marolambo and then onto Tana due to work commitments. The team felt smaller very quickly and everyone was very grateful for their help in the first 2 weeks!

Onwards to Vohidamba!

So today’s the day!! The rest of the team will fly out to Marolambo to meet the other 5 who flew out yesterday. The last few days have been busy for us all. We have had several meetings including meetings with the Madagascan Head of Neglected Tropical Diseases, Madagascan Head of Communicable Disease and the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Antananarivo. In between these meetings we have managed to fit in some ultrasound training, kit purchasing (including and official Madex stamp) and several local beers! Not to mention we are now all fluent in French (especially Steve) – “parce que the truck fell in the ditch”!when explaining the 2015 expedition to Dr Louis, Head of NTDs.

Let’s hope this journey to Marolambo goes smoother than Caitlin and Alice’s journey to Madagascar at the weekend! They had a luxurious evening spent on Amsterdam airport floor after missing their transfer by 10 minutes. Nevertheless, they got on the next plane to Paris, a slight diversion, and joined Robbie and Steve on their flight to Madagascar! Eventually the whole team were together by Midnight on Sunday.

We met all of the Malagasy team yesterday who are just as excited as we are and we can’t wait to get started on our research!

See you on the other side!!!!

Written by Heather Lawson

With not long left until Madex 2019 is underway we thought it would be a good time to introduce the 2019 UK team..

In just 11 days (yes, we can’t believe it either), the MadEx team will be flying out to Madagascar for the 2019 expedition. In preparation for this, the team met up in the big smoke (London) last weekend to finalise arrangements and run over the plans and methods together as a group. We thought it would be good to share with you our exciting plans and update you on some of the work we have been doing over the last year.

To begin, let’s introduce the 2019 UK team. We have yet another enthusiastic and hardworking team heading out to Madagascar who will consist of:

Expedition Lead – Caitlin Sheehy: Caitlin is the Expedition Lead for 2019, and was part of the 2018 expedition, where she gained invaluable experience as a field researcher. She will qualify as a doctor from The University of Manchester in July 2019. She helped organise and took part in a health outreach project in Northern Uganda in 2016 and is a former member of the student Global Health Society committee. She has a masters in Public Health in addition to her medical studies, and is currently spending her final semester in a hospital in Lyon, France.

Expedition Medic and Field researcher (sonography) – Dr Hannah Russell: Hannah completed her Foundation Years as a doctor in 2018 after graduating from the University of Manchester in 2016. Hannah has just finished studying a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Hannah was one of the original MadEx team members; a member of the 2015 and 2016 expedition team where she took on the role of field researcher, expedition medic and lead for the ultrasound work (2016 project). Hannah will be the expedition medic for MadEx 2019.

Field researcher – Robbie Kornitschky: Robbie is currently in his 4th year of medicine at Manchester. From his first year Robbie has been part of the Manchester Wilderness Medicine Society as well has having a strong interest in research and public health. Before coming to Manchester he undertook a biochemistry degree in Bristol. Afterwards he worked in science communication and public engagement for two years and volunteers as part of the Bristol Science Film Festival to this day.

Field researcher – Heather Lawson: Heather is currently a 4th year medical student at the University of Sheffield and will beworking with the MadEx team as part of her elective. Heather as an interest in public health,paediatrics and psychiatry and holds a BSc in Global Health which she completed atthe University of Manchester in addition to her medical studies. Currently Heather is acommittee member for of the Sheffield Students for Global Health and was formerly a member of the committee of Manchester Friends of MSF committee.

Biologist – Alice Reid: Alice Reid is currently a MSc student at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine studying Biology and control of parasites and disease vectors. Alice will be the malacologist for the 2019 MadEx expedition, in which she will continue researching the prevalence of Biomphalaria pfeifferi and the evidence of shedding cercariae in water contact areas. This research will be a follow on from Daniel Ripley’s previous work during the 2018 MadEx expedition. Alice has a particular interest in trematode infections and has acquired microscopy skills in identifying different species of Schistosomiasis during her Masters course. The freshwater survey of molluscs conducted during MADEX 2019 will be for Alice’s dissertation.

Field researcher (sonography) – Dr Graham Dodge: Graham is a consultant radiologist, with an interest in GI/hepato-biliary imaging, at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust. He will be the ultrasound expert on the 2019 expedition. Graham previously worked in clinical management at BSUH NHS trust but recently gave that up and completed the Clipper Round the World 2017-2018 sailing race as part of the Liverpool 2018 crew. He now wants to develop wider imaging interests especially in low and middle income countries.

Dr Stephen Spencer: Steve founded MadEx in 2014 while he was still a medical student at the University of Manchester. He has an undergraduate degree in Zoology and since graduating from Manchester in 2015, he has been working as a doctor in Bristol. He will be accompanying the team for the first two weeks of the expedition in Madagascar.

So that’s the team…. Now, what have we done so far and what will we be doing?

The last few months have been pretty crazy. Getting ethical approval, applying for grants, coordinating with the Ministry of Health in Madagascar, coordinating with the Malagasy team, sorting flights/hotels/transfers, finalising the methodology and presenting previous research.  That’s to name a few. Although the phrase “I’m sure it’ll be obvious when we’re there” was used a lot last weekend, I think we all agree we are finally at a point where we feel ready to head to Madagascar and start our work. 

We arrive in Madagascar on Sunday 9^thJune 2019 before spending 4 weeks in the field, which looks as jam packed as ever. This year, we will be starting a five year longitudinal study as well as continuing with the research done over the last 5 years. We will be visiting the same villages as previous years to study and treat schistosomiasis. We will be be getting well acquainted with poo samples and continue to monitor the prevalence and disease intensity of schistosomiasis within these villages as well as carry on with the education programmes, morbidity assessments and mass drug administrations established by MadEx in previous years. 

This year, we will also be adding two new components to our research. 

• With Graham’s expertise, we are lucky to have an expert in the field of radiology meaning we can perform more extensive imaging on the children to assess for schistosomiasis-related morbidity. In addition, some of us less skilled radiographers (the rest of us!) will be trialling out a new ultrasound technique to compare its accuracy to Graham’s ultrasound. 
• We will also be extending our research to pre-school children this year and researching the prevalence of schistosomiasis amongst preschool aged children in the same villages. 

Both of these components continue to expand on the research carried out by MadEx. Our project has been funded and supported by many people and organisations, whom we are really grateful for and would not be able to do our work without them. 

Between now and Saturday 8^th June we still have lots to do and undoubtedly many hurdles to cross, however, MadEx 2019 is just around the corner and we are all very excited!