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. 2017 Dec 4;2(4):61.
doi: 10.3390/tropicalmed2040061.

Biosocial Determinants of Persistent Schistosomiasis among Schoolchildren in Tanzania despite Repeated Treatment

Rose E Donohue  1 , Kijakazi O Mashoto  2 , Godfrey M Mubyazi  3 , Shirin Madon  4   5 , Mwele N Malecela  6 , Edwin Michael  7
Affiliations

Biosocial Determinants of Persistent Schistosomiasis among Schoolchildren in Tanzania despite Repeated Treatment

Rose E Donohue et al. Trop Med Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease endemic to Tanzania and other countries of the global south, which is currently being addressed through preventive chemotherapy campaigns. However, there is growing recognition that chemotherapy strategies will need to be supplemented to sustainably control and eventually eliminate the disease. There remains a need to understand the factors contributing to continued transmission in order to ensure the effective configuration and implementation of supplemented programs. We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire, to evaluate the biosocial determinants facilitating the persistence of schistosomiasis, among 1704 Tanzanian schoolchildren residing in two districts undergoing a preventive chemotherapeutic program: Rufiji and Mkuranga. A meta-analysis was carried out to select the diagnostic questions that provided a likelihood for predicting infection status. We found that self-reported schistosomiasis continues to persist among the schoolchildren, despite multiple rounds of drug administration.Using mixed effects logistic regression modeling, we found biosocial factors, including gender, socio-economic status, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH)-related variables, were associated with this continued schistosomiasis presence. These findings highlight the significant role that social factors may play in the persistence of disease transmission despite multiple treatments, and support the need not only for including integrated technical measures, such as WASH, but also addressing issues of poverty and gender when designing effective and sustainable schistosomiasis control programs.

Keywords: Tanzania; integrated control; persistence; sanitation and hygiene (WASH); schistosomiasis; social determinants; water.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The founding sponsors had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, and in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Overview of study framework.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Sensitivity forest plot, specificity forest plot, and summary receiving operating characteristic (SROC) plot for pain during urination question (S. haematobium): (a) sensitivity forest plot; (b) specificity forest plot; and (c) SROC curve with summary sensitivity and false positive rate (1-specificity) (circle) and the 95% confidence region (ellipse). Each triangle represents the summary sensitivity and false positive rates from one study.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Sensitivity forest plot, specificity forest plot, and summary receiving operating characteristic (SROC) plot for pain during urination question (S. haematobium): (a) sensitivity forest plot; (b) specificity forest plot; and (c) SROC curve with summary sensitivity and false positive rate (1-specificity) (circle) and the 95% confidence region (ellipse). Each triangle represents the summary sensitivity and false positive rates from one study.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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