Department of Biochemistry and Sports Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
Department of Biotechnical and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine Animal Resources and Biosecurity, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2022 Jul 27;16(7):e0010570. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010570. eCollection 2022 Jul.
Knowing the prevalence of schistosomiasis is key to informing programmes to control and eliminate the disease as a public health problem. It is also important to understand the impact of infection on child growth and development in order to allocate appropriate resources and effort to the control of the disease.
We conducted a survey to estimate the prevalence of schistosomiasis among school aged children in villages along the Albert-Nile shore line in the district of Pakwach, North Western Uganda. A total of 914 children aged between 10-15 years were screened for Schistosoma mansoni using the POC-CCA and Kato Katz (KK) techniques. The infection intensities were assessed by POC-CCA and KK as well as CAA tests. The KK intensities were also correlated with POC-CCA and with CAA intensity. Anthropometric measurements were also taken and multivariate analysis was carried out to investigate their association with infection status.
The prevalence of schistosomiasis using the POC-CCA diagnostic test was estimated at 85% (95% CI: 83-87), being highest amongst children living closer to the Albert-Nile shoreline. Visual scoring of the POC-CCA results was more sensitive than the Kato Katz test and was positively correlated with the quantified infection intensities by the CAA test. The majority of the children were underweight (BMI<18.5), and most notably, boys had significantly lower height for age (stunting) than girls in the same age range (p < 0.0001), but this was not directly associated with S. mansoni infection.
High prevalence of S. mansoni infection in the region calls for more frequent mass drug administration with praziquantel. We observed high levels of stunting which was not associated with schistosomiasis. There is a need for improved nutrition among the children in the area.
了解血吸虫病的流行情况对于制定控制和消除该疾病作为公共卫生问题的规划至关重要。了解感染对儿童生长发育的影响也很重要，以便为该疾病的控制分配适当的资源和努力。
我们在乌干达西北部帕克瓦区沿阿尔伯特-尼罗河沿岸的村庄中对学龄儿童进行了一项调查，以估计曼氏血吸虫病的流行率。共有 914 名年龄在 10-15 岁之间的儿童接受了 POC-CCA 和加藤厚涂片（KK）技术筛查曼氏血吸虫病。使用 POC-CCA 和 KK 以及 CAA 检测评估感染强度。KK 强度也与 POC-CCA 和 CAA 强度相关。还进行了人体测量学测量，并进行了多变量分析，以调查它们与感染状况的关系。
使用 POC-CCA 诊断测试，血吸虫病的流行率估计为 85%（95%CI：83-87%），靠近阿尔伯特-尼罗河沿岸的儿童感染率最高。POC-CCA 结果的目视评分比加藤厚涂片测试更敏感，并且与 CAA 测试量化的感染强度呈正相关。大多数儿童体重不足（BMI<18.5），尤其是男孩在相同年龄范围内的身高明显低于女孩（p<0.0001），但这与曼氏血吸虫感染并无直接关系。
该地区曼氏血吸虫感染的高流行率需要更频繁地进行大规模药物治疗。我们观察到高水平的发育迟缓，但与血吸虫病无关。该地区的儿童需要改善营养。
