Risk factors for Schistosoma mansoni and hookworm in urban farming communities in western Côte d'Ivoire

Abstract

Summaryobjectives To identify risk factors for Schistosoma mansoni and hookworm infections in urban farming communities, and to investigate small-scale spatial patterns of infection prevalence.methods A cross-sectional survey was carried out in 113 farming households (586 individuals) and 21 non-farming households (130 individuals) from six agricultural zones in the town of Man, western Cô te d'Ivoire. Heads of households were interviewed on common agricultural activities, land and water use, education attainment, socioeconomic status and sanitation facilities. Household members provided stool specimens that were processed by the Kato-Katz technique and a formol-ether concentration method and diagnosed for S. mansoni, hookworms and other soil-transmitted helminths and intestinal protozoa. Bayesian statistics were employed for spatial analyses.results The prevalences of S. mansoni and hookworm in farming households were 51.4% and 24.7%, respectively. Risk factors for a S. mansoni infection comprised living in close proximity to the Kô River, water contact with irrigation wells and ponds and low education attainment. Living in zones of smallholder irrigated rice plots or large rice perimeters, using water from domestic wells, and low socioeconomic status were risk factors for a hookworm infection. We found significant spatial heterogeneity between agricultural zones, with the highest infection prevalences of S. mansoni and hookworm in the zone where there was a large rice perimeter.conclusions In this urban setting, both S. mansoni and hookworm infections were related to specific agricultural activities. Health education and active participation of urban farmers for the control of schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis is recommended.keywords Schistosoma mansoni, hookworm, risk factors, urban agriculture, Cô te d'Ivoire

Some epidemiological and serological studies on schistosomiasis in Najran area, Saudi Arabia

“…The fi ndings of the current study also showed that participants aged 20 -40 years were signifi cantly more prone to be infected than younger and older ones. This result was in agreement with previous reports worldwide ( Raja'a et al, 2000;Gryseels et al, 2006;Mafuyai et al, 2006;Matthys et al, 2007;Ugbomoiko et al, 2010;Deribe et al, 2011). This could be explained by the excessive mobility of people at this age and they may become more exposed to infected water while swimming/playing or fetching water for domestic purposes or helping in agriculture activities.…”

“…These are consistent with many other reports worldwide (Garba et al, 2010;Ahmed et al, 2012). Males usually have higher prevalence rates of schistosomiasis than females and this was attributed to religious and cultural reasons or to water contact behavior (El-Khoby et al, 2000;Haidar, 2001;Matthys et al, 2007;Deribe et al, 2011). However, signifi cantly higher infection rates among females compared to their male counterparts have been also reported elsewhere (Satayathum et al, 2006;Rudge et al, 2008).…”

“…However, previous studies among rural communities in some neighboring countries like Yemen found no association between the prevalence of schistosomiasis and the fathers' or participants' educational status (Raja'a et al, 2000;Nagi, 2005). On the contrary, in Cote d'Ivoire and Nigeria, the higher education level of the head of family was identifi ed as a protective factor against schistosomiasis (Matthys et al, 2007;Ugbomoiko et al, 2010). With respect to nationality, the present fi gures showed that the rate of human schistosomiasis was higher among non-Saudi residents (nationals of Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India) compared to Saudi people.…”

The spatial distribution of Schistosoma mansoni infection in four regions of western Côte d’Ivoire

“…Indeed, while in some schools no child was infected with S. mansoni, more than half of the children were infected in other schools. High prevalences of S. mansoni were mostly found in the northern Tonkpi region, which is in line with results from previous studies (Roux et al, 1980;Utzinger et al, 2000;Keiser et al, 2002;Matthys et al, 2007). In the schools located in the Cavally and Gomon regions, S. mansoni infection prevalences mainly ranged between 10 and 45%.…”

Childhood Activities and Schistosomiasis Infection in the Kassena-Nankana District of Northern Ghana

“…A similar study by Bogoch et al [23] in the northern region of Ghana also identified working or playing near freshwater bodies as having a significant association with S. haematobium infection. Such association between proximity of home or school to schistosome infested water sources and infection has been reported from many other studies in schistosomiasis endemic communities including Ethiopia [6,24], Sudan [25], Côte d'Ivoire [26] and Yemen [16,27].…”