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Table 1 Glossary

From: The health and economic benefits of the global programme to eliminate lymphatic filariasis (2000–2014)

Acute disease/acute adenolymphangitis (ADL): defined by symptoms of pain, tenderness, local swelling, and warmth in the groin or limbs with constitutional symptoms (such as fever, nausea, and vomiting).

Benefit Cohort 1: individuals protected from acquiring infection.

Benefit Cohort 2: individuals with existing subclinical morbidity protected from progression to clinical disease.

Benefit Cohort 3: individuals with existing clinical morbidity for whom clinical morbidity was alleviated.

Chronic disease: disease that is persistent (here limited specifically to hydrocele and lymphedema)

Clinical disease: a disease that has recognizable clinical signs and symptoms (i.e. any acute or chronic cases).

Direct costs: costs associated with medical resource utilization, which include the cost borne by the patients (for the medication and transport etc.) and the health system (i.e. personnel and capital resources etc.).

Discounting/Discount rate: the process for adjusting future costs and outcomes to a “present value” to reflect the fact that a dollar is worth more today than it would be worth tomorrow. The discount rate determines the strength for the time preference.

Human capital approach: human-capital method takes the patient’s perspective and counts any hour not worked as an hour lost. By contrast, the friction-cost method takes the employer’s perspective, and only counts as lost those hours not worked until another employee takes over the patient’s work [86].

Hydrocele: fluid accumulation in the scrotal sac.

Indirect costs: expenses incurred from the cessation or reduction of work productivity as a result of the morbidity and mortality associated with a given disease.

Lymphedema: an accumulation of lymphatic fluid generally in the limbs

Mass drug administration (MDA)/preventative chemotherapy: administration of drugs to whole target population.