Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Public Health and Surveillance
Date Submitted: Jan 10, 2019
Open Peer Review Period: Jan 14, 2019 - Mar 11, 2019
Date Accepted: Apr 23, 2019
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Prevalence of Schistosoma haematobium in an unexplored endemic region in the sub-prefecture of Torrock, Chad
ABSTRACT
Background:
Schistosoma haematobium is a parasitic digenetic trematode responsible for schistosomiasis (also known as bilharzia). The disease is caused by penetration of the skin by the parasite, spread by intermediate host molluscs in stagnant waters, and can be treated by administration of praziquantel.
Objective:
. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of schistosomiasis in the sub-prefecture of Torrock, an endemic area in Chad where no earlier investigation had been conducted, and no distribution system for pharmacotherapy has ever existed.
Methods:
The study examined 1,875 children aged 1–14 years, over a period of one year. After centrifugation, urine examination was performed by direct microscopic investigation for eggs. The investigation was conducted with a mobile health (M-health) approach, using short messaging service (SMS) to communicate among parents, local health workers, a pharmacist and a medical doctor. An initial awareness campaign requested parents to have their children examined for schistosomiasis. Urine was then collected at home following SMS request by the parents. Urine results that proved positive were sent to a medical doctor by SMS, who in turn ordered a pharmacist by SMS to distribute praziquantel to the infected children.
Results:
: Direct microscopic examination of urine found 467 positive cases (24.9% of the total sample). Of all male and female samples, 341 (34 %) and 127 (14.4 %) samples were positive, respectively. The infection rate was equally distributed over age groups. The newly developed M-health system had a limited level of participation (8%) from an estimated total of 25,000 children in the target group.
Conclusions:
The prevalence of schistosomiasis in children in the sub-prefecture of Torrock is moderately high. Efforts will be required to enhance the awareness of parents and to reach a larger percentage of the population. Systematic governmental measures should be put in place as soon as possible to increase awareness in the area and to diagnose and treat cases of schistosomiasis.
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