-
The American Journal of Tropical... Apr 2020Schistosomiasis is an acute and chronic parasitic disease caused by blood flukes of the genus More than 220 million people worldwide were estimated to have active...
Schistosomiasis is an acute and chronic parasitic disease caused by blood flukes of the genus More than 220 million people worldwide were estimated to have active schistosomiasis in 2017, 90% of whom live on the African continent, but only 102 million were reported to have received treatment. Africa is also disproportionately burdened by HIV, with an estimated 26 million people living with HIV in 2017. Given these overlapping epidemics, we conducted a systematic review to ascertain the contribution of schistosomes to HIV acquisition risk, the contribution of HIV to schistosome acquisition, the impact of HIV on schistosomiasis-related morbidity, the impact of schistosomes on HIV disease progression and immune response, the impact of HIV on the efficacy of praziquantel treatment, and the impact of HIV on egg shedding. We reviewed studies of people living in sub-Saharan Africa coinfected with HIV and spp. between January 1996 and July 2018. We found that 1) infection with increases the risk of HIV acquisition, 2) there is currently a lack of data on whether HIV infection increases the risk of acquisition, 3a) HIV coinfection was not an accelerating factor for adverse outcomes, 3b) schistosomiasis may be an important contributor to immune activation in HIV coinfected people, 4) praziquantel use in coinfected people may improve immune reconstitution on antiretroviral therapy for HIV, and 5) there is evidence that HIV infection reduces egg excretion in individuals infected with .
Topics: Africa South of the Sahara; Animals; HIV Infections; HIV-1; Schistosoma; Schistosomiasis
PubMed: 32043458
DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.19-0494 -
Parasites & Vectors Mar 2015Schistosomiasis is a disease caused by infection with blood flukes of the genus Schistosoma. Transmission of, and exposure to, the parasite result from faecal or urinary... (Review)
Review
Schistosomiasis is a disease caused by infection with blood flukes of the genus Schistosoma. Transmission of, and exposure to, the parasite result from faecal or urinary contamination of freshwater containing intermediate host snails, and dermal contact with the same water. The World Health Assembly resolution 65.21 from May 2012 urges member states to eliminate schistosomiasis through preventive chemotherapy (i.e. periodic large-scale administration of the antischistosomal drug praziquantel to school-aged children and other high-risk groups), provision of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and snail control. However, control measures focus almost exclusively on preventive chemotherapy, while only few studies made an attempt to determine the impact of upgraded access to safe water, adequate sanitation and good hygiene on schistosome transmission. We recently completed a systematic review and meta-analysis pertaining to WASH and schistosomiasis and found that people with safe water and adequate sanitation have significantly lower odds of a Schistosoma infection. Importantly though, the transmission of schistosomiasis is deeply entrenched in social-ecological systems, and hence is governed by setting-specific cultural and environmental factors that determine human behaviour and snail populations. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of the literature, which explores the transmission routes of schistosomes, particularly focussing on how these might be disrupted with WASH-related technologies and human behaviour. Additionally, future research directions in this area are highlighted.
Topics: Animals; Child; Fresh Water; Global Health; Humans; Hygiene; Male; Praziquantel; Sanitation; Schistosoma; Schistosomiasis; Snails; Water
PubMed: 25884172
DOI: 10.1186/s13071-015-0766-9 -
Tropical Diseases, Travel Medicine and... Dec 2021Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by mainly Schistosoma mansoni and Schistosoma hematobium. The disease is very common in Africa including Ethiopia....
BACKGROUND
Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by mainly Schistosoma mansoni and Schistosoma hematobium. The disease is very common in Africa including Ethiopia. Schistosoma mansoni is a major public health problem in Ethiopia especially among children. This review is aimed to indicate the prevalence of Schistosoma mansoni among children at the national and regional levels.
METHODS AND MATERIAL
The PRISMA guidelines were followed. An electronic search of PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus, MEDLINE, and Google search were carried out using key terms. Articles published from the proceeding of professional associations such as the Ethiopian medical laboratory association, the Ethiopian public health association, and annual national research conferences were also searched to find additional eligible studies. Data were extracted independently by two investigators, and cross-checked by a third reviewer. The quality of included studies was assessed using JBI quality assessment criteria. Data were extracted using Microsoft excel and finally analyzed using STATA version 12. The pooled prevalence was done using a random-effects model.
RESULT
Overall 49 studies involving 20,493 children (10,572 male and 9, 921 females) were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of Schistosoma mansoni infection was 37.13% (95%CI:30.02-44.24). High heterogeneity was observed with I of 99.4%, P < 0.000. According to subgroup analysis, the pooled prevalence was high in the SNNPR (41.49%: 95%CI: 19.52-63.46) followed by the Amhara region (41.11%: 95%CI: 30.41-51.8), the Tigray region (31.40%: 95%CI:11.72-51.09), and the Oromia region (28.98%: 95%CI: 18.85-39.1). Year from 2011 to 2015 contributed to the highest prevalence of Schistosoma mansoni infection among children (46.31%: 95%:34.21-59.05).
CONCLUSION
This study revealed a 37.13% prevalence of Schistosoma mansoni infection among children. This is an alert to improve and implement appropriate control strategies such as mass drug administration in Ethiopia.
PubMed: 34847958
DOI: 10.1186/s40794-021-00156-0 -
Diagnosis of Schistosoma infection in non-human animal hosts: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases May 2022Reliable and field-applicable diagnosis of schistosome infections in non-human animals is important for surveillance, control, and verification of interruption of human... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
BACKGROUND
Reliable and field-applicable diagnosis of schistosome infections in non-human animals is important for surveillance, control, and verification of interruption of human schistosomiasis transmission. This study aimed to summarize uses of available diagnostic techniques through a systematic review and meta-analysis.
METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
We systematically searched the literature and reports comparing two or more diagnostic tests in non-human animals for schistosome infection. Out of 4,909 articles and reports screened, 19 met our inclusion criteria, four of which were considered in the meta-analysis. A total of 14 techniques (parasitologic, immunologic, and molecular) and nine types of non-human animals were involved in the studies. Notably, four studies compared parasitologic tests (miracidium hatching test (MHT), Kato-Katz (KK), the Danish Bilharziasis Laboratory technique (DBL), and formalin-ethyl acetate sedimentation-digestion (FEA-SD)) with quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), and sensitivity estimates (using qPCR as the reference) were extracted and included in the meta-analyses, showing significant heterogeneity across studies and animal hosts. The pooled estimate of sensitivity was 0.21 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.03-0.48) with FEA-SD showing highest sensitivity (0.89, 95% CI: 0.65-1.00).
CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE
Our findings suggest that the parasitologic technique FEA-SD and the molecular technique qPCR are the most promising techniques for schistosome diagnosis in non-human animal hosts. Future studies are needed for validation and standardization of the techniques for real-world field applications.
Topics: Animals; Feces; Prevalence; Reference Standards; Schistosoma; Schistosomiasis; Sensitivity and Specificity
PubMed: 35522699
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010389 -
Infectious Diseases of Poverty Apr 2018The speedy rate of change in the environmental and socio-economics factors may increase the incidence, prevalence and risk of schistosomiasis infections in Zambia.... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
The speedy rate of change in the environmental and socio-economics factors may increase the incidence, prevalence and risk of schistosomiasis infections in Zambia. However, available information does not provide a comprehensive understanding of the biogeography and distribution of the disease, ecology and population dynamics of intermediate host snails. The current study used an information-theoretical approach to understand the biogeography and prevalence schistosomiasis and identified knowledge gaps that would be useful to improve policy towards surveillance and eradication of intermediate hosts snails in Zambia.
METHODS
To summarise the existing knowledge and build on past and present experiences of schistosomiasis epidemiology for effective disease control in Zambia, a systematic search of literature for the period 2000-2017 was done on PubMed, Google Scholar and EBSCOhost. Using the key words: 'Schistosomiasis', 'Biomphalaria', 'Bulinus', 'Schistosoma mansoni', 'Schistosoma haematobium', and 'Zambia', in combination with Booleans terms 'AND' and 'OR', published reports/papers were obtained and reviewed independently for inclusion.
RESULTS
Thirteen papers published in English that fulfilled the inclusion criteria were selected for the final review. The papers suggest that the risk of infection has increased over the years and this has been attributed to environmental, socio-economic and demographic factors. Furthermore, schistosomiasis is endemic in many parts of the country with infection due to Schistosoma haematobium being more prevalent than that due to S. mansoni. This review also found that S. haematobium was linked to genital lesions, thus increasing risks of contracting other diseases such as HIV and cervical cancer.
CONCLUSIONS
For both S. haematobium and S. mansoni, environmental, socio-economic, and demographic factors were influential in the transmission and prevalence of the disease and highlight the need for detailed knowledge on ecological modelling and mapping the distribution of the disease and intermediate host snails for effective implementation of control strategies.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Prevalence; Schistosoma haematobium; Schistosoma mansoni; Schistosomiasis haematobia; Schistosomiasis mansoni; Socioeconomic Factors; Zambia
PubMed: 29706131
DOI: 10.1186/s40249-018-0424-5 -
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases Dec 2015Programs for schistosomiasis control are advancing worldwide, with many benefits noted in terms of disease reduction. Yet risk of reinfection and recurrent disease... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
BACKGROUND
Programs for schistosomiasis control are advancing worldwide, with many benefits noted in terms of disease reduction. Yet risk of reinfection and recurrent disease remain, even in areas with high treatment coverage. In the search for means to better prevent new Schistosoma infections, attention has returned to an older strategy for transmission control, i.e., chemical mollusciciding, to suppress intermediate host snail species responsible for S. mansoni and S. haematobium transmission. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to summarize prior experience in molluscicide-based control of Bulinus and Biomphalaria spp. snails, and estimate its impact on local human Schistosoma infection.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
The review was registered at inception with PROSPERO (CRD42013006869). Studies were identified by online database searches and hand searches of private archives. Eligible studies included published or unpublished mollusciciding field trials performed before January 2014 involving host snails for S. mansoni or S. haematobium, with a primary focus on the use of niclosamide. Among 63 included papers, there was large variability in terms of molluscicide dosing, and treatment intervals varied from 3-52 weeks depending on location, water source, and type of application. Among 35 studies reporting on prevalence, random effects meta-analysis indicated that, on average, odds of infection were reduced 77% (OR 0.23, CI95% 0.17, 0.31) during the course of mollusciciding, with increased impact if combined with drug therapy, and progressively greater impact over time. In 17 studies reporting local incidence, risk of new infection was reduced 64% (RR 0.36 CI95% 0.25, 0.5), but additional drug treatment did not appear to influence incidence effects.
CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE
While there are hurdles to implementing molluscicide control, its impact on local transmission is typically strong, albeit incomplete. Based on past experience, regular focal mollusciciding is likely to contribute significantly to the move toward elimination of schistosomiasis in high risk areas.
Topics: Animals; Biomphalaria; Bulinus; Disease Vectors; Humans; Incidence; Molluscacides; Prevalence; Schistosoma haematobium; Schistosoma mansoni; Schistosomiasis haematobia; Schistosomiasis mansoni
PubMed: 26709922
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004290 -
Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) Jun 2021Mobile health devices are emerging applications that could help deliver point-of-care (POC) diagnosis, particularly in settings with limited laboratory infrastructure,... (Review)
Review
Mobile health devices are emerging applications that could help deliver point-of-care (POC) diagnosis, particularly in settings with limited laboratory infrastructure, such as Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The advent of Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has resulted in an increased deployment and use of mHealth-linked POC diagnostics in SSA. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the accuracy of mobile-linked point-of-care diagnostics in SSA. Our systematic review and meta-analysis were guided by the Preferred Reporting Items requirements for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis. We exhaustively searched PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, MEDLINE, and CINAHL with full text via EBSCOhost databases, from mHealth inception to March 2021. The statistical analyses were conducted using OpenMeta-Analyst software. All 11 included studies were considered for the meta-analysis. The included studies focused on malaria infections, , , soil-transmitted helminths, and . The pooled summary of sensitivity and specificity estimates were moderate compared to those of the reference representing the gold standard. The overall pooled estimates of sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, and diagnostic odds ratio of mobile-linked POC diagnostic devices were as follows: 0.499 (95% CI: 0.458-0.541), 0.535 (95% CI: 0.401-0.663), 0.952 (95% CI: 0.60-1.324), 1.381 (95% CI: 0.391-4.879), and 0.944 (95% CI: 0.579-1.538), respectively. Evidence shows that the diagnostic accuracy of mobile-linked POC diagnostics in detecting infections in SSA is presently moderate. Future research is recommended to evaluate mHealth devices' diagnostic potential using devices with excellent sensitivities and specificities for diagnosing diseases in this setting.
PubMed: 34204848
DOI: 10.3390/diagnostics11061081 -
African Journal of Reproductive Health Dec 2020Male genital schistosomiasis (MGS) may result in eggs lodged in the prostate causing persistent inflammation that may play a major role in prostate carcinogenesis.... (Review)
Review
Male genital schistosomiasis (MGS) may result in eggs lodged in the prostate causing persistent inflammation that may play a major role in prostate carcinogenesis. Globally, prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common cancers and the global distribution of PCa overlaps with that of schistosomiasis infections, suggesting a probable causal relationship. Objectives of this review were to assess evidence of co-existence of schistosomiasis and PCa and possible causal association between the two diseases. Relevant literature published between 1950 and 2019 yielded 20 publications on schistosomiasis and PCa co-existence. Schistosoma (S.) haematobium and S. mansoni were associated with MGS manifestation and mostly prostate adenocarcinoma diagnosis. Effects of prostatic MGS infection progressed over time with high Schistosoma egg burden thought to contribute to the development of PCa. Causal association and mechanistic pathways of MGS on PCa development and the role of Schistosoma eggs on the development of PCa remains unestablished.
Topics: Adenocarcinoma; Animals; Humans; Male; Prostatic Neoplasms; Schistosoma haematobium; Schistosomiasis
PubMed: 34077083
DOI: 10.29063/ajrh2020/v24i4.19 -
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases Mar 2016In 2012 the World Health Assembly adopted resolution WHA65.21 on elimination of schistosomiasis, calling for increased investment in schistosomiasis control and support... (Review)
Review
Schistosomiasis Prevalence and Intensity of Infection in Latin America and the Caribbean Countries, 1942-2014: A Systematic Review in the Context of a Regional Elimination Goal.
BACKGROUND
In 2012 the World Health Assembly adopted resolution WHA65.21 on elimination of schistosomiasis, calling for increased investment in schistosomiasis control and support for countries to initiate elimination programs. This study aims to analyze prevalence and intensity of Schistosoma mansoni infection in children in Latin America and the Caribbean countries and territories (LAC), at the second administrative level or lower.
METHODOLOGY
A systematic review of schistosomiasis prevalence and intensity of infection was conducted by searching at PubMed, LILACS and EMBASE. Experts on the topic were informally consulted and institutional web pages were reviewed (PAHO/WHO, Ministries of Health). Only SCH infection among children was registered because it can be a 'proxi-indicator' of recent transmission by the time the study is conducted.
PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
One hundred thirty two full-text articles met the inclusion criteria and provided 1,242 prevalence and 199 intensity of infection data points. Most of them were from Brazil (69.7%). Only Brazil published studies after 2001, showing several 'hot spots' with high prevalence. Brazil, Venezuela, Suriname and Saint Lucia need to update the epidemiological status of schistosomiasis to re-design their national programs and target the elimination of Schistosoma mansoni transmission by 2020. In Antigua and Barbuda, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Montserrat and Puerto Rico schistosomiasis transmission may be interrupted. However the compilation of an elimination dossier and follow-up surveys, per WHO recommendations, are needed to verify that status. Hence, the burden of subtle SCH chronic infection may be still present and even high in countries that may have eliminated transmission. Heterogeneity in the methodologies used for monitoring and evaluating the progress of the schistosomiasis programs was found, making cross-national and chronological comparisons difficult.
CONCLUSIONS
There is a need for updating the schistosomiasis status in the historically endemic countries and territories in LAC to address the required public health interventions for control and elimination programs or to verify the elimination of transmission of Schistosoma mansoni. Improved reporting and standardization of the monitoring and evaluation methodologies used are recommended, while using available WHO guidelines. Meeting a regional elimination goal will require additional and improved epidemiological data by age group and sex.
Topics: Anthelmintics; Disease Eradication; Humans; Latin America; Praziquantel; Schistosomiasis
PubMed: 27007193
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004493 -
Acta Parasitologica Mar 2022Schistosomiasis is one of the leading chronic parasitic diseases in Ethiopia. We aimed to summarize the prevalence of S. mansoni in human and Biomphalaria snails as well... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
PURPOSE
Schistosomiasis is one of the leading chronic parasitic diseases in Ethiopia. We aimed to summarize the prevalence of S. mansoni in human and Biomphalaria snails as well as risk factors in Ethiopia.
METHODS
Literature search was carried out from Scopus, Google Scholar, Science Direct and PubMed which reported Schistosoma mansoni infection in human and Biomphalaria snails in Ethiopia. The overall prevalence was estimated by a random-effect model and heterogeneities among studies were assessed by I test.
RESULTS
A total of 178,251 participants and 1,097 snails were tested for the presence of S. mansoni in the eligible studies. The pooled prevalence of S. mansoni was 32.5% (95% CI 28.0-37.0) and 15.9% (95% CI - 5.6-37.5) in human and Biomphalaria snails in Ethiopia, respectively. The highest pooled prevalence was 43.2% (95% CI 27.3-59.1) in South Nations and National Peoples region while the lowest pooled prevalence was 25% (95% CI 19.3-30.7) observed in the Afar region. Interestingly, the pooled prevalence of S. mansoni declined from 40.7% (95% CI 33-48.4) to 22.4% (95% CI 18.5-26.3) after the launching of mass drug administration (MDA). The analysis of risk factors showed that swimming habit (OR, 2.78; 95% CI 2.35-3.21) and participation in irrigation (OR, 2.69; 95% CI 1.45-3.73) were independent predictors for S. mansoni infection.
CONCLUSION
This study revealed that about one-third of human and nearly 16% of Biomphalaria snails were infected with S. mansoni in Ethiopia. This review indicated that the prevalence of S. mansoni declined after the implementation of MDA. This study highlights the importance of further integrated approaches for better control of schistosomiasis in Ethiopia.
Topics: Animals; Biomphalaria; Ethiopia; Humans; Prevalence; Risk Factors; Schistosoma mansoni; Schistosomiasis mansoni; Snails
PubMed: 34259986
DOI: 10.1007/s11686-021-00449-6