High prevalence of Schistosoma mansoni infection and stunting among school age children in communities along the Albert-Nile, Northern Uganda: A cross sectional study

• Published in: PLoS neglected tropical diseases 2022-07, Vol.16 (7), p.e0010570-e0010570
• Main Authors: Mulindwa, Julius, Namulondo, Joyce, Kitibwa, Anna, Nassuuna, Jacent, Nyangiri, Oscar Asanya, Kimuda, Magambo Phillip, Boobo, Alex, Nerima, Barbara, Busingye, Fred, Candia, Rowel, Namukuta, Annet, Ssenyonga, Ronald, Ukumu, Noah, Ajal, Paul, Adriko, Moses, Noyes, Harry, de Dood, Claudia J, Corstjens, Paul L A M, van Dam, Govert J, Elliott, Alison M, Matovu, Enock
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Age; Animals; Antigens; Antigens, Helminth - analysis; Biology and Life Sciences; Child; Children; Cognitive ability; Cross-Sectional Studies; Demographic aspects; Diagnosis; Disease control; Distribution; Earth Sciences; Feces - chemistry; Female; Forecasts and trends; Growth disorders; Growth Disorders - epidemiology; Humans; Infections; Male; Medicine and Health Sciences; Multivariate analysis; Nutrition; Nutritional status; People and Places; Praziquantel; Prevalence; Programmes; Public health; Sample size; Sanitation; Schistosoma mansoni; Schistosomiasis; Schistosomiasis mansoni - diagnosis; Schistosomiasis mansoni - epidemiology; Schools; Sensitivity and Specificity; Shorelines; Social Sciences; Stunting; Surveying; Tropical diseases; Uganda - epidemiology; Underweight; Urine
• ISSN: 1935-2735; 1935-2727; 1935-2735
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010570

Knowing the prevalence of schistosomiasis is key to informing programmes to control and eliminate the disease as a public health problem. It is also important to understand the impact of infection on child growth and development in order to allocate appropriate resources and effort to the control of the disease. We conducted a survey to estimate the prevalence of schistosomiasis among school aged children in villages along the Albert-Nile shore line in the district of Pakwach, North Western Uganda. A total of 914 children aged between 10-15 years were screened for Schistosoma mansoni using the POC-CCA and Kato Katz (KK) techniques. The infection intensities were assessed by POC-CCA and KK as well as CAA tests. The KK intensities were also correlated with POC-CCA and with CAA intensity. Anthropometric measurements were also taken and multivariate analysis was carried out to investigate their association with infection status. The prevalence of schistosomiasis using the POC-CCA diagnostic test was estimated at 85% (95% CI: 83-87), being highest amongst children living closer to the Albert-Nile shoreline. Visual scoring of the POC-CCA results was more sensitive than the Kato Katz test and was positively correlated with the quantified infection intensities by the CAA test. The majority of the children were underweight (BMI