Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Mar 14;6(1):56.
doi: 10.1186/s40249-017-0270-x.

A multidisciplinary, integrated approach for the elimination of schistosomiasis: a longitudinal study in a historically hyper-endemic region in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, China from 2005 to 2014

Le-Ping Sun  1   2   3 , Wei Wang  4   5   6 , Yin-Ping Zuo  7 , Qing-Biao Hong  1   2   3 , Guang-Lin Du  7 , Yu-Cai Ma  8 , Jian Wang  7 , Guo-Jing Yang  1   2   3 , Dao-Jian Zhu  7 , You-Sheng Liang  1   2   3
Affiliations

A multidisciplinary, integrated approach for the elimination of schistosomiasis: a longitudinal study in a historically hyper-endemic region in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, China from 2005 to 2014

Le-Ping Sun et al. Infect Dis Poverty. .

Abstract

Background: Although great success has been achieved, schistosomiasis remains a major public health concern in China, and the remaining core endemic regions are concentrated along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. In this longitudinal study, we evaluated the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary, integrated approach for schistosomiasis elimination in a historically hyper-endemic region in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, China over the 10-year period from 2005 through 2014.

Methods: A three-step roadmap for schistosomiasis elimination was designed in the study site, and multidisciplinary, integrated interventions were implemented by the health, agriculture, water resources development, land and resources, and forestry sectors from 2005 to 2014, including chemotherapy for infected individuals, health education, management of the source of Schistosoma japonicum infection, and intermediate host snail control. The annual number of schistosomiasis patients, S. japonicum infection in humans, bovines and Oncomelania hupensis snails, and water infectivity were observed to assess the effectiveness of the multidisciplinary, integrated approach for the elimination of schistosomiasis.

Results: There was a tendency towards a gradual decline in both the number of schistosomiasis cases and the prevalence of S. japonicum human infection across the study period from 2005 through 2014. No S. japonicum human infection was detected since 2012, and no acute infection was seen since 2006. During the study period, no infection was found in bovines, and a 0.03% overall infection rate was observed in O. hupensis snails. Since 2009, no infected snails were identified, and the area of both snail habitats and infected snail habitats appeared a reduction over the study period. Following the 3-year multidisciplinary, integrated control, infection control was achieved, and transmission control was achieved after 6-year implementation, with all infected snails and water infectivity eliminated; in addition, the 10-year implementation resulted in interruption of schistosomiasis transmission in the study site in 2014.

Conclusions: The results of the present 10-year longitudinal study demonstrate that the multidisciplinary, integrated approach is effective for the elimination of schistosomiasis as a public health problem in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, China.

Keywords: China; Elimination; Integrated control; Longitudinal study; Multidisciplinary approach; Schistosomiasis; Yangtze River.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Roadmap of the multidisciplinary, integrated approach for schistosomiasis elimination in Yangzhou City from 2005 to 2014
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Annual number of districts with infection control, transmission control, transmission interruption and uncontrolled transmission of schistosomiasis in Yangzhou City from 2005 to 2014
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Annual number of townships with infection control, transmission control, transmission interruption and uncontrolled transmission of schistosomiasis in Yangzhou City from 2005 to 2014
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Annual number of schistosomiasis cases and acute infections in Yangzhou City from 2005 to 2014
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Rates of S. japonicum infection in humans, bovines and snails in Yangzhou City 2005 to 2014
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Annual area of snail habitats and infected snail habitats in Yangzhou City 2005 to 2014
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Colley DG, Bustinduy AL, Secor WE, King CH. Human schistosomiasis. Lancet. 2014;383:2253–64. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61949-2. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Steinmann P, Keiser J, Bos R, Tanner M, Utzinger J. Schistosomiasis and water resources development: systematic review, meta-analysis, and estimates of people at risk. Lancet Infect Dis. 2006;6:411–25. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(06)70521-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bhutta ZA, Sommerfeld J, Lassi ZS, Salam RA, Das JK. Global burden, distribution, and interventions for infectious diseases of poverty. Infect Dis Poverty. 2014;3:21. doi: 10.1186/2049-9957-3-21. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Stothard JR, Chitsulo L, Kristensen TK, Utzinger J. Control of schistosomiasis in sub-Saharan Africa: progress made, new opportunities and remaining challenges. Parasitology. 2009;136:1665–75. doi: 10.1017/S0031182009991272. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lai YS, Biedermann P, Ekpo UF, Garba A, Mathieu E, Midzi N, et al. Spatial distribution of schistosomiasis and treatment needs in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and geostatistical analysis. Lancet Infect Dis. 2015;15:927–40. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(15)00066-3. - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources