1. Contextualizing Schistosoma haematobium transmission in Ghana: Assessment of diagnostic techniques and individual and community water-related risk factors
- Author
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Dickson Osabutey, Michael N. Adjei, Karen C. Kosinski, Alexandra V. Kulinkina, Bernard O. Gyamfi, Nana-Kwadwo Biritwum, Kwabena M. Bosompem, and Elena N. Naumova
- Subjects
Male ,Rural Population ,0301 basic medicine ,Veterinary (miscellaneous) ,030231 tropical medicine ,Psychological intervention ,Logistic regression ,Ghana ,Article ,Schistosomiasis haematobia ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Risk Factors ,Environmental health ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,Microhematuria ,Child ,Swimming ,Hematuria ,Reagent Strips ,Schistosoma haematobium ,Schools ,biology ,business.industry ,Water ,Waterborne diseases ,030108 mycology & parasitology ,biology.organism_classification ,medicine.disease ,medicine.icd_9_cm_classification ,Logistic Models ,Infectious Diseases ,Insect Science ,Female ,Parasitology ,Health education ,Water quality ,Rural area ,business - Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The study assessed associations between Schistosoma haematobium infection (presence of parasite eggs in urine or hematuria) and self-reported metrics (macrohematuria, fetching surface water, or swimming) to evaluate their performance as proxies of infection in presence of regular preventive chemotherapy. It also examined community water characteristics (safe water access, surface water access, and groundwater quality) to provide context for schistosomiasis transmission in different types of communities and propose interventions. METHODS: Logistic regression was used to assess the associations between the various measured and self-reported metrics in a sample of 897 primary school children in 30 rural Ghanaian communities. Logistic regression was also used to assess associations between community water characteristics, self-reported water-related behaviors and S. haematobium infection. Communities were subsequently categorized as candidates for three types of interventions: additional safe water sources, water treatment, and education about water-related disease risk, depending on their water profile. RESULTS: Microhematuria presence measured with a reagent strip was a good proxy of eggs in urine at individual (Kendall’s τ(b) = 0.88, p
- Published
- 2019
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