Schistosomiasis mansoni in the region of the Triângulo Mineiro, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

In order to reevaluate the possible presence of schistosomiasis mansoni in the Triângulo Mineiro, one of the areas of the State of Minas Gerais where this parasite is not commonly found, malacological survey and fecal examinations were undertaken in the region between October 1990 and June 1992. A sample of 7,032 1st grade school children from 29 counties had their feces examined using the Kato-Katz method. Amongst the children examined, two from Planura and one from each countie of Capinópolis, Conceição das Alagoas, Uberaba, Uberlândia, Prata and Gurinhatã were positive for Schistosoma mansoni. None of the children were identified as being autoctonous cases. In the malacological survey, 5,406 planorbid snails were examined. The specimens were identified morphologically and examined for S. mansoni by squashing between glass plates. The species were identified as Biomphalaria tenagophila in three counties, as B. straminea in ten and B. intermedia in 16. No snails were found in eight other counties studies. The snails were found to be negative for S. mansoni. The presence of intermediate hosts for S. mansoni, associated with parasitized individuals emphasizes the necessity of epidemiological surveillance for schistosomiasis in the region of Triângulo in the State of Minas Gerais.

A Study of Schistosomiasis Prevalence and Risk of Snail Presence Spatial Distributions Using Geo-Statistical Tools

“…This species has been epidemiologically linked to the occurrence of cases of schistosomiasis in Paracatu in Minas Gerais (Carvalho et al, 1988). Working in non-endemic regions in Minas Gerais (Carvalho et al, 1994(Carvalho et al, , 1997(Carvalho et al, , 1998a (Pellon & Teixeira, 1950;Katz et al, 1978;Lambertucci et al, 1987). In endemic areas, large concentrations of these molluscs, together with other risk factors, favour the existence of cities with a high prevalence of schistosomiasis.…”

“…High prevalence (greater than 15.0%) was found in 40.5% of the studied municipalities (SES, 2006). Carvalho et al (1987Carvalho et al ( , 1988Carvalho et al ( , 1989Carvalho et al ( , 1994Carvalho et al ( , 1997Carvalho et al ( , 1998a, Katz & Carvalho (1983), Campos & Briques (1988), Kloss et al (2004), Gazzinelli et al (2006), Enk et al (2008Enk et al ( , 2009, Massara et al (2008) and Tibiriça (2008) also published results of schistomiasis prevalence studies in Minas Gerais state. Finally, Drummond et al (2010) reported that the PCE examined 2,643,564 stool samples in the period of 2003-2007 and obtained 141,284 positives for S. mansoni in Minas Gerais.…”