Note that the information about the index shuffling could be derived by associating the index with the tariff obtained in the oblivious transfer phase.
This method defines a synthetic measure representative of the fuzzy set obtained, giving simple information about absolute index level but losing the uncertainty that the use of fuzzy sets guarantees.
Detailed information about the index illness was subsequently collected in an interview with the carer by a member of the research team (JCC).
Demographic data and basic information about the index illness (eg, the date of illness onset) were collected from carers by a self-complete questionnaire on recruitment.
The 24 studies contained information about five index tests: the rK39 ICT, the latex agglutination test in urine, the FAST agglutination test, an rK26 ICT and an rKE16 ICT.
Twenty-four studies containing information about five index tests (rK39 immunochromatographic test (ICT), KAtex latex agglutination test in urine, FAST agglutination test, rK26 ICT, and rKE16 ICT) recruiting 4271 participants (2605 with VL) were included.
Other public institutions such as the Direction Préfectorale de la Santé of Guéckédou (DPS; the prefectural Guinean public health directorate) were extremely helpful, particularly in providing information about the index location of the outbreak.
Finally our results are limited by lack of information about some indexes of metabolic disorders, such as fat distribution and blood pressure, and other important clinical variables, such as the severity of psychiatric illness.
Detailed information was obtained about index case-patients and all other persons living in the same household (contacts) with regard to sociodemographic data, medical history, influenza symptoms, and whether he or she had sought medical care.
More detailed informations about the index and the mapping are available in the BiNoM manual (http://binom.curie.fr).fr
