<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Urinary schistosomosis is a serious public health problem prevalent in low-income rural regions of sub-Saharan Africa, including coastal part of Kenya. Praziquantel administration to school-aged children is the prevailing tool of schistosomosis control in these regions. The aim of our study was to find out if this control strategy can lead to interruption of parasite trasmission and disease elimination. During February and March 2018, the occurrence of urinary schistosomosis in volunteers of primary health care facilities in Kwale County, Kenya was examined and the occurrence of infected intermediate hosts <italic>Bulinus globosus</italic> in local water resources was monitored. Participants completed a questionnaire concerning source of water for household purposes, type of housing and health status and were asked to provide urine samples. Diagnosis of urinary schistosomosis was established by detection of <italic>Schistosoma haematobium</italic> eggs in urine specimens microscopically, using filtration method. Infected <italic>B. globosus</italic> snails were detected using cercaria shedding tests. From the hemolymph of snails, prepatent period of infection was identified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The presence of urinary schistosomosis was detected in 15.07 % (69 out of 451) of study participants. Cercaria shedding test was positive in 2 particular sites of river Pengo and Tsanganyiko. Genetic material (haemolymph) of 68 <italic>B. globosus</italic> snails tested by DraI PCR revealed 7 <italic>Schistosoma</italic> spp. positive samples. Six of seven DraI positive snails were infected by <italic>S. haematobium</italic>, as it was detected by Sh110/SmS1 PCR. The study revealed, that the disease was still present in the region studied and the transmission was not interrupted. The rate of infection was significantly influenced by the water supplies used for household purposes and the type of housing.</p></abstract>

Urinary schistosomosis is a serious public health problem prevalent in low-income rural regions of sub-Saharan Africa, including coastal part of Kenya. Praziquantel administration to school-aged children is the prevailing tool of schistosomosis control in these regions. The aim of our study was to find out if this control strategy can lead to interruption of parasite trasmission and disease elimination. During February and March 2018, the occurrence of urinary schistosomosis in volunteers of primary health care facilities in Kwale County, Kenya was examined and the occurrence of infected intermediate hosts Bulinus globosus in local water resources was monitored. Participants completed a questionnaire concerning source of water for household purposes, type of housing and health status and were asked to provide urine samples. Diagnosis of urinary schistosomosis was established by detection of Schistosoma haematobium eggs in urine specimens microscopically, using filtration method. Infected B. globosus snails were detected using cercaria shedding tests. From the hemolymph of snails, prepatent period of infection was identified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The presence of urinary schistosomosis was detected in 15.07 % (69 out of 451) of study participants. Cercaria shedding test was positive in 2 particular sites of river Pengo and Tsanganyiko. Genetic material (haemolymph) of 68 B. globosus snails tested by DraI PCR revealed 7 Schistosoma spp. positive samples. Six of seven DraI positive snails were infected by S. haematobium, as it was detected by Sh110/SmS1 PCR. The study revealed, that the disease was still present in the region studied and the transmission was not interrupted. The rate of infection was significantly influenced by the water supplies used for household purposes and the type of housing.

Urinary schistosomosis in patients of rural medical health centers in Kwale county, Kenya

Helminthologia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Urinary schistosomosis is a serious public health problem prevalent in low-income rural regions of sub-Saharan Africa, including coastal part of Kenya....

Urinary schistosomosis in patients of rural medical health centers in Kwale county, Kenya

Published Online: Jan 25, 2020

Page range: 19 - 27

Received: Feb 22, 2019

Accepted: Oct 10, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/helm-2020-0001

Keywords
urinary schistosomosis, parasite transmission

© 2020 A. Kaiglová, M. J. S. Changoma, J. Špajdelová, D. Jakubcová, K. Bírová, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Urinary schistosomosis in patients of rural medical health centers in Kwale county, Kenya

Published Online: Jan 25, 2020

Page range: 19 - 27

Received: Feb 22, 2019

Accepted: Oct 10, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/helm-2020-0001

Keywordsurinary schistosomosis, parasite transmission

© 2020 A. Kaiglová, M. J. S. Changoma, J. Špajdelová, D. Jakubcová, K. Bírová, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
urinary schistosomosis, parasite transmission