| Youngjin Kim | 2 Articles |
Global efforts to identify groups at high risk for schistosomiasis have mainly concentrated on identifying their geographical distribution. Investigations on the socioeconomic characteristics of high-risk groups are relatively scarce. This study aimed to explore the associations between schistosomiasis among students and their parents’ occupations. A nationwide cross-sectional survey was conducted targeting 105,167 students in 1,772 primary schools across Sudan in 2017. From these students, 100,726 urine and 96,634 stool samples were collected to test for Schistosoma haematobium and S. mansoni infection. A multi-level mixed effect analysis was used with age and sex as fixed factors, and school as a random factor. The odd ratios (ORs) of practicing open defecation among farmers’ children were almost 5 times higher than their counterparts whose parents were government officials (OR=4.97, 95% confidence intervals (CIs): 4.57-5.42, P<0.001). The ORs of contacting water bodies for watering livestock among farmers’ children were more than 4 times higher than those of children whose parents were government officials (OR=4.59, 95% CIs: 4.02-5.24, P<0.001). This study shows that schistosomiasis represents a disease of poverty and that farmers’ children constituted a high-risk group.
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We aimed to explore the population dynamics of snail in 3 sites of the White Nile in Sudan. More specifically, we aimed to investigate the annual patterns of snail populations that act as intermediate hosts of schistosomes and monthly snail infection rates and ecological characteristics presumably related to snail populations. We collected snails for 1 year monthly at 3 different shore sites in the vicinity of El Shajara along the White Nile river in Khartoum State, Sudan. In addition, we measured air and water temperatures, water turbidities, vegetation coverages, and water depths and current speeds. Most of the collected snails were Biomphalaria pfeifferi and Bulinus truncatus. The population densities of snails and their infection rates varied across survey sites. The collected snails liberated S. mansoni and S. haematobium cercariae as well as Amphistome and Echinostome cercariae. Infected snails were found during March-June. The ecological characteristics found to be associated with the absence of snails population were: high turbidity, deep water, low vegetation coverage (near absence of vegetation), high water temperature, and high current speed. To our knowledge, this is the first longitudinal study of the snail population and ecological characteristics in the main basin of the White Nile river.
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