Human excretion behaviour in a schistosomiasis endemic area of the Geizira, Sudan

Abstract

A 12-month study of the excretory behaviour of resident and migrant labourers in Gezira, Sudan, was undertaken to contribute base-line information towards the development of a new control strategy. Of 398 observed acts of excretion 70% of urinations and 93% of defaecations occurred in sites far removed from any water body. After excretion only 31% people washed themselves (and only 7.1% actually washed their genital region directly into a water body). People excreting far from water were as likely to wash afterwards as those excreting near a water body. This finding contradicted previous expectations based on the hygienic precepts of Islam. The results show that privacy is a more important consideration than proximity of water in the selection of a site for excretion, and suggest that there is only limited regular contamination by S. mansoni eggs under the observed conditions.