Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T17:41:38.274Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTION OF ADULT POPULATIONS TO THE MAINTENANCE OF SCHISTOSOMIASIS AND SOIL-TRANSMITTED HELMINTH INFECTIONS IN THE SIAVONGA AND MAZABUKA DISTRICTS OF ZAMBIA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2016

Hikabasa Halwindi ,
Pascal Magnussen ,
Annette Olsen  and
Malimba Lisulo
Hikabasa Halwindi*
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
Pascal Magnussen
Affiliation:
Institute for Veterinary Disease Biology, Section for Parasitology and Aquatic Diseases, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg C, Denmark Centre for Medical Parasitology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Annette Olsen
Affiliation:
Institute for Veterinary Disease Biology, Section for Parasitology and Aquatic Diseases, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg C, Denmark
Malimba Lisulo
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
*
1Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

A majority of Zambian children live in impoverished communities that lack safe water and proper sanitation, exposing them to urogenital and intestinal helminths. Efforts to mitigate this plight have been implemented through mass drug administration aimed at deworming school-age and under-five children against schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminths. However, the disease status of adults living in the same communities as the treated children remains unknown. The aim of this study was to describe the potential contribution of infected adult populations to the transmission of these infections in southern Zambia. A cross-sectional study was conducted in April and May 2013 as part of baseline survey for a larger study in Mazabuka and Siavonga Districts. Stool and urine samples of 2829 adults from five catchment areas were collected and processed using Kato-Katz and urine filtration methods, respectively. Adults from Siavonga had a 13.9% combined prevalence of Schistosoma haematobium and S. mansoni, and 12.1% combined prevalence of Ascaris lumbricoides and hookworm. There was no S. mansoni in Mazabuka, and only a 5.3% prevalence of S. haematobium and 7.4% combined prevalence of A. lumbricoides and hookworm. Additionally, no Trichuris trichiura infections were observed in the two districts. Despite most of these infections being categorized as light intensity, heavy infection intensities were also found for all four parasite species. If this infected adult population is left untreated, the possibility of it acting as a reservoir of infections and ultimately transmitting the infections to treated children remains. Therefore, there is need to consider alternative treatment strategies that incorporate adults, thereby reducing the risk of contaminating the environment and perpetuating transmission to children.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 49 , Issue 2 , March 2017 , pp. 265 - 275
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press, 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abou-Zeid, A. H. A., Abkar, T. A. & Mohamed, R. O. (2012) Schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminths among an adult population in a war affected area, Southern Kordofan state, Sudan. Parasites and Vectors 5, 133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bethony, J., Brooker, S., Albonico, M., Geiger, S. M., Loukas, A., Diemert, D. & Hotez, P. J. (2006) Soil-transmitted helminth infections: ascariasis, trichuriasis, and hookworm. Lancet 367, 1521–1532.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bhagwandeen, S. B. (1976) Schistosomiasis and carcinoma of the bladder in Zambia. South African Medical Journal 50(41), 1616–1620.Google ScholarPubMed
Chimbari, M. J., Dhlomo, E., Mwadiwa, E. & Mubila, L. (2003) Transmission of schistosomiasis in Kariba, Zimbabwe, and a cross-sectional comparision of schistosomiasis prevalences and intensities in the town with those in Siavonga in Zambia. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 97, 605–616.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ekundayo, O. J., Aliyu, M. H. & Jolly, P. E. (2007) A review of intestinal helminthiasis in Nigeria and the need for school-based intervention. Journal of Rural and Tropical Public Health 6, 33–39.Google Scholar
Halwindi, H., Magnussen, P., Meyrowitsch, D., Handema, R., Siziya, S. & Olsen, A. (2010) Effect on treatment coverage of adding community-directed treatment to the health facility-based approach of delivering anthelminthic drugs to under-five children during child health week in Mazabuka District, Zambia. International Health 2, 253–261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Halwindi, H., Magnussen, P., Siziya, S., Handema, R., Meyrowitsch, D. W. & Olsen, A. (2011) Impact of community-directed treatment on soil transmitted helminth infections in children aged 12 to 59 months in Mazabuka District, Zambia. Parasitology 138, 1578–1585.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hira, P. R. (1969) Transmission of schistosomiasis in Lake Kariba, Zambia. Nature 224, 670–672.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hotez, P. J., Bundy, D. A. P., Beegle, K., Brooker, S., de Silva, N., Montresor, A. et al. (2006) Helminth infections: soil transmitted helminths infections and schistosomiasis. In Jamison, D. T. et al. (eds) Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries, 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Miguel, E. & Kremer, M. (2004) Worms: identifying impacts on education and health in the presence of treatment externalities. Econometrica 72(1), 159–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mubila, L. & Rollinson, D. (2002) Snail–parasite compatibility and prevalence of Schistosoma haematobium on the shores of Lake Kariba, Zambia. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 96, 165–173.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mugono, M., Konje, E., Kuhn, S., Mpogoro, F. J., Morona, D. & Mazigo, H. D. (2014) Intestinal schistosomiasis and geohelminths of Ukara Island, North-Western Tanzania: prevalence, intensity of infection and associated risk factors among school children. Parasites and Vectors 7, 612.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mutengo, M. M., Mudenda, V., Mwansa, J. C., Kaonga, K., Sianongo, S., Wamulume, H. I. & Shinondo, C. J. (2009) Presence of schistosomiasis in genital biopsies from patients at the university teaching hospital in Lusaka, Zambia. Medical Journal of Zambia 36, 3.Google Scholar
Mwandawiro, C. S, Nikolay, B., Kihara, J. H., Ozier, O., Mukoko, D. A., Mwanje, M. T. et al. (2013) Monitoring and evaluating the impact of national school-based deworming in Kenya: study design and baseline results. Parasites and Vectors 6, 198.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Njenga, S. M., Mwandawiro, C. S., Muniu, E., Mwanje, M. T., Haji, F. M. & Bockarie, M. J. (2011) Adult population as potential reservoir of NTD infections in rural villages of Kwale district, coastal Kenya: implications for preventive chemotherapy interventions policy. Parasites and Vectors 4, 175.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Poole, H., Terlouw, D. J., Naunje, A., Mzembe, K., Stanton, M., Betson, M. et al. (2014) Schistosomiasis in pre-school-age children and their mothers in Chikhwawa district, Malawi with notes on characterization of schistosomes and snails. Parasites and Vectors 7, 153.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salam, R. A., Maredia, H., Das, J. K., Lassi, Z. S. & Bhutta, Z. A. (2014) Community-based interventions for the prevention and control of helmintic neglected tropical diseases. Infectious Diseases of Poverty 3, 23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shawa, S. T., Mwase, E. T. & Simonsen, P. E. (2014) Surveys for schistosomiasis and soil transmitted helminths in Luangwa, Kalabo and Serenje Districts of Zambia. Medical Journal of Zambia 41, 174–180.Google Scholar
Tchuem Tcuenté, L. A. (2012) Control of schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis in sub-Saharan Africa: challenges and prospects. In Rodriguez Morales, A. (ed.) Current Topics in Tropical Medicine, InTech. ISBN: 978-953-51-0274-8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Health Organization (2002) Prevention and control of schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis: report of a WHO expert committee. WHO Technical Report Series No. 912. WHO, Geneva.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (2006) Preventive Chemotherapy in Human Helminthiasis: Coordinated Use of Anthelminthic Drugs in Control Interventions: A Manual for Health Professionals and Programme Managers. WHO, Geneva.Google Scholar