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
. 2018 Dec;30(4):225-229.
doi: 10.4314/mmj.v30i4.3.

Schistosomiasis among obstetric fistula patients in Lilongwe, Malawi

Laura B Drew  1 , Jennifer H Tang  2   3 , Alison Norris  4 , Patricia Carr Reese  5 , Mwawi Mwale  6 , Ronald Mataya  7   8 , Jeffrey P Wilkinson  9   10
Affiliations

Schistosomiasis among obstetric fistula patients in Lilongwe, Malawi

Laura B Drew et al. Malawi Med J. 2018 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Schistosoma haematobium infection has been documented as an uncommon cause of vesicovaginal fistula (VVF) and can result in impaired wound healing of urogenital tissues. For these reasons, it could potentially be linked to an increased rate of obstetric fistula among women who experience obstructed labor and/or in a higher failure rate of fistula repair. Therefore, the primary objective of our study was to determine the prevalence of S. haematobium infection among women undergoing obstetric VVF repair in Lilongwe, Malawi. Our secondary objectives were to assess if S. haematobium infection could be a risk factor for obstetric fistula development or unsuccessful VVF repair in our patient population.

Methods: From July to October 2013, we conducted S. haematobium testing via urine microscopy on 96 patients undergoing obstetric VVF repair surgery at the Fistula Care Centre in Lilongwe, Malawi.

Results: The prevalence of S. haematobium infection among women undergoing obstetric VVF repair was 2% (n=2). Both women with S. haematobium had successful VVF repairs.

Conclusions: Although S. haematobium has the potential to be a risk factor for obstetric VVF formation or unsuccessful VVF repair, it was uncommon among the women in our clinic with obstetric VVF.

Keywords: fistula; schistosoma; schistosoma haematobium; schistosomiasis; vesicovaginal fistula.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Vos T, Flaxman AD, Naghavi M, Lozano R, Michaud C, Ezzati M, et al. Years lived with disability (YLDs) for 1160 sequelae of 289 diseases and injuries 1990–2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet. 2012;380:2163–2196. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61729-2. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brindley PJ, Hotez PJ. Break out: Urogenital schistosomiasis and Schistosoma haematobium infection in the post-genomic era. [March 17, 2017];PLoS Negl Trop Dis [online serial] 2013 :7. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0001961. Accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3610632/ - 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;6:411–425. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(06)70521-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hotez PJ, Kamath A. Neglected tropical diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa: Review of their prevalence, distribution, and disease burden. [March 17, 2017];PLoS Negl Trop Dis [online serial] 2009 :3. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0000412. Accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2727001/ - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dennis N, Wilkinson J, Robboy S, Idrissa A. Schistosomiasis and vesicovaginal fistula. Afr J Reprod Health. 2009;13:137–140. - PubMed

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources