Impact of preventive chemotherapy on transmission of soil-transmitted helminth infections in Pemba Island, United Republic of Tanzania, 1994-2021.
Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections cause significant morbidity in children and women of reproductive age. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends preventive chemotherapy (PC) of at-risk populations with anthelminthics to control these infections. Historically, STH are very intensively...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:7df8c8b1049a414086575490ca1aa240 2023-05-15T15:15:56+02:00 Impact of preventive chemotherapy on transmission of soil-transmitted helminth infections in Pemba Island, United Republic of Tanzania, 1994-2021. Shaali Ame Fatma Kabole Alphoncina Masako Nanai Pauline Mwinzi Denise Mupfasoni Said Mohammed Ali Antonio Montresor 2022-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010477 https://doaj.org/article/7df8c8b1049a414086575490ca1aa240 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010477 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0010477 https://doaj.org/article/7df8c8b1049a414086575490ca1aa240 PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 16, Iss 6, p e0010477 (2022) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010477 2022-12-31T00:24:16Z Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections cause significant morbidity in children and women of reproductive age. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends preventive chemotherapy (PC) of at-risk populations with anthelminthics to control these infections. Historically, STH are very intensively transmitted in Pemba Island (Zanzibar). A survey conducted in 1994 in 12 schools estimated a STH prevalence near to 100%. This extremely high prevalence induced the introduction of PC in the island; initially, however, PC was not regularly administered because of difficulties linked to drug procurement. A second STH survey, conducted in 2011, in 24 schools estimated a prevalence of STH of 89%; after this survey, PC was regularly administered until 2018. We conducted a survey in 2021 using the same method as that used in 2011. The prevalence of STH was evaluated at 80% (95% CI 78.1-81.5) and most of the STH cases were due to Trichuris trichiura. More than 32% (95% CI 30.3-34.0) of the children investigated had infections of moderate or heavy intensity. PC has been conducted for over 25 years in Pemba Island. However, despite its beneficial impact, both the prevalence and the intensity of STH infections remain high, and the intervention has been insufficient in controlling STH morbidity. This is probably due to a combination of irregular PC, climatic conditions favourable to STH transmission, the low sensitivity of T. trichiura to benzimidazoles, high population density and poor sanitation. Improvement of sanitation coverage remains a key measure to permanently reduce the prevalence and intensity of STH. Possible changes to the present PC approaches to better control STH in Pemba would be (i) to assure high coverage in all schools, (ii) to use mebendazole instead of albendazole given its better activity on T. trichiura and (iii) to use a combination of ivermectin and mebendazole to further increase anthelminthic efficacy on T. trichiura. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 16 6 e0010477 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Shaali Ame Fatma Kabole Alphoncina Masako Nanai Pauline Mwinzi Denise Mupfasoni Said Mohammed Ali Antonio Montresor Impact of preventive chemotherapy on transmission of soil-transmitted helminth infections in Pemba Island, United Republic of Tanzania, 1994-2021. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections cause significant morbidity in children and women of reproductive age. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends preventive chemotherapy (PC) of at-risk populations with anthelminthics to control these infections. Historically, STH are very intensively transmitted in Pemba Island (Zanzibar). A survey conducted in 1994 in 12 schools estimated a STH prevalence near to 100%. This extremely high prevalence induced the introduction of PC in the island; initially, however, PC was not regularly administered because of difficulties linked to drug procurement. A second STH survey, conducted in 2011, in 24 schools estimated a prevalence of STH of 89%; after this survey, PC was regularly administered until 2018. We conducted a survey in 2021 using the same method as that used in 2011. The prevalence of STH was evaluated at 80% (95% CI 78.1-81.5) and most of the STH cases were due to Trichuris trichiura. More than 32% (95% CI 30.3-34.0) of the children investigated had infections of moderate or heavy intensity. PC has been conducted for over 25 years in Pemba Island. However, despite its beneficial impact, both the prevalence and the intensity of STH infections remain high, and the intervention has been insufficient in controlling STH morbidity. This is probably due to a combination of irregular PC, climatic conditions favourable to STH transmission, the low sensitivity of T. trichiura to benzimidazoles, high population density and poor sanitation. Improvement of sanitation coverage remains a key measure to permanently reduce the prevalence and intensity of STH. Possible changes to the present PC approaches to better control STH in Pemba would be (i) to assure high coverage in all schools, (ii) to use mebendazole instead of albendazole given its better activity on T. trichiura and (iii) to use a combination of ivermectin and mebendazole to further increase anthelminthic efficacy on T. trichiura. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Shaali Ame Fatma Kabole Alphoncina Masako Nanai Pauline Mwinzi Denise Mupfasoni Said Mohammed Ali Antonio Montresor |
author_facet |
Shaali Ame Fatma Kabole Alphoncina Masako Nanai Pauline Mwinzi Denise Mupfasoni Said Mohammed Ali Antonio Montresor |
author_sort |
Shaali Ame |
title |
Impact of preventive chemotherapy on transmission of soil-transmitted helminth infections in Pemba Island, United Republic of Tanzania, 1994-2021. |
title_short |
Impact of preventive chemotherapy on transmission of soil-transmitted helminth infections in Pemba Island, United Republic of Tanzania, 1994-2021. |
title_full |
Impact of preventive chemotherapy on transmission of soil-transmitted helminth infections in Pemba Island, United Republic of Tanzania, 1994-2021. |
title_fullStr |
Impact of preventive chemotherapy on transmission of soil-transmitted helminth infections in Pemba Island, United Republic of Tanzania, 1994-2021. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Impact of preventive chemotherapy on transmission of soil-transmitted helminth infections in Pemba Island, United Republic of Tanzania, 1994-2021. |
title_sort |
impact of preventive chemotherapy on transmission of soil-transmitted helminth infections in pemba island, united republic of tanzania, 1994-2021. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010477 https://doaj.org/article/7df8c8b1049a414086575490ca1aa240 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 16, Iss 6, p e0010477 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010477 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0010477 https://doaj.org/article/7df8c8b1049a414086575490ca1aa240 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010477 |
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PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
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16 |
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6 |
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e0010477 |
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