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Patterns and Risk Factors of Helminthiasis and Anemia in a Rural and a Peri-urban Community in Zanzibar, in the Context of Helminth Control Programs
BACKGROUND: The control of helminth infections and prevention of anemia in developing countries are of considerable public health importance. The purpose of this study was to determine patterns and risk factors of helminth infections and anemia in a rural and a peri-urban community of Zanzibar, Tanz...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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Public Library of Science
2010
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2867941/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20485491 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000681 |
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author | Knopp, Stefanie Mohammed, Khalfan A. Stothard, J. Russell Khamis, I. Simba Rollinson, David Marti, Hanspeter Utzinger, Jürg |
author_facet | Knopp, Stefanie Mohammed, Khalfan A. Stothard, J. Russell Khamis, I. Simba Rollinson, David Marti, Hanspeter Utzinger, Jürg |
author_sort | Knopp, Stefanie |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: The control of helminth infections and prevention of anemia in developing countries are of considerable public health importance. The purpose of this study was to determine patterns and risk factors of helminth infections and anemia in a rural and a peri-urban community of Zanzibar, Tanzania, in the context of national helminth control programs. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We carried out a community-based cross-sectional study in 454 individuals by examining at least two stool samples with different methods for soil-transmitted helminths (Ascaris lumbricoides, hookworm, Strongyloides stercoralis, and Trichuris trichiura) and one urine sample for Schistosoma haematobium. Finger-prick blood was taken to estimate anemia levels and to detect antibody reactions against ascariasis, strongyloidiasis and schistosomiasis, using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) approach. Parasitological methods determined a helminth prevalence of 73.7% in the rural, and 48.9% in the peri-urban setting. Most helminth infections were of light intensity with school-aged children showing the highest intensities. Multiple helminth species infections were pervasive in rural dwellers regardless of age. More than half of the participants were anemic, with a particularly high prevalence in the peri-urban setting (64.7%). Risk factors for helminth infections were age, sex, consumption of raw vegetables or salad, recent travel history, and socio-economic status. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: After several years of chemotherapy-based morbidity control efforts in Zanzibar, helminth prevalences are still high and anemia is common, but helminth infection intensities are low. Hence, chemotherapy should be continued, and complemented with improved access to clean water, adequate sanitation, and health education, along with poverty alleviation measures for a more enduring impact. |
format | Text |
id | pubmed-2867941 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2010 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-28679412010-05-19 Patterns and Risk Factors of Helminthiasis and Anemia in a Rural and a Peri-urban Community in Zanzibar, in the Context of Helminth Control Programs Knopp, Stefanie Mohammed, Khalfan A. Stothard, J. Russell Khamis, I. Simba Rollinson, David Marti, Hanspeter Utzinger, Jürg PLoS Negl Trop Dis Research Article BACKGROUND: The control of helminth infections and prevention of anemia in developing countries are of considerable public health importance. The purpose of this study was to determine patterns and risk factors of helminth infections and anemia in a rural and a peri-urban community of Zanzibar, Tanzania, in the context of national helminth control programs. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We carried out a community-based cross-sectional study in 454 individuals by examining at least two stool samples with different methods for soil-transmitted helminths (Ascaris lumbricoides, hookworm, Strongyloides stercoralis, and Trichuris trichiura) and one urine sample for Schistosoma haematobium. Finger-prick blood was taken to estimate anemia levels and to detect antibody reactions against ascariasis, strongyloidiasis and schistosomiasis, using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) approach. Parasitological methods determined a helminth prevalence of 73.7% in the rural, and 48.9% in the peri-urban setting. Most helminth infections were of light intensity with school-aged children showing the highest intensities. Multiple helminth species infections were pervasive in rural dwellers regardless of age. More than half of the participants were anemic, with a particularly high prevalence in the peri-urban setting (64.7%). Risk factors for helminth infections were age, sex, consumption of raw vegetables or salad, recent travel history, and socio-economic status. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: After several years of chemotherapy-based morbidity control efforts in Zanzibar, helminth prevalences are still high and anemia is common, but helminth infection intensities are low. Hence, chemotherapy should be continued, and complemented with improved access to clean water, adequate sanitation, and health education, along with poverty alleviation measures for a more enduring impact. Public Library of Science 2010-05-11 /pmc/articles/PMC2867941/ /pubmed/20485491 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000681 Text en Knopp et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Knopp, Stefanie Mohammed, Khalfan A. Stothard, J. Russell Khamis, I. Simba Rollinson, David Marti, Hanspeter Utzinger, Jürg Patterns and Risk Factors of Helminthiasis and Anemia in a Rural and a Peri-urban Community in Zanzibar, in the Context of Helminth Control Programs |
title | Patterns and Risk Factors of Helminthiasis and Anemia in a Rural and a Peri-urban Community in Zanzibar, in the Context of Helminth Control Programs |
title_full | Patterns and Risk Factors of Helminthiasis and Anemia in a Rural and a Peri-urban Community in Zanzibar, in the Context of Helminth Control Programs |
title_fullStr | Patterns and Risk Factors of Helminthiasis and Anemia in a Rural and a Peri-urban Community in Zanzibar, in the Context of Helminth Control Programs |
title_full_unstemmed | Patterns and Risk Factors of Helminthiasis and Anemia in a Rural and a Peri-urban Community in Zanzibar, in the Context of Helminth Control Programs |
title_short | Patterns and Risk Factors of Helminthiasis and Anemia in a Rural and a Peri-urban Community in Zanzibar, in the Context of Helminth Control Programs |
title_sort | patterns and risk factors of helminthiasis and anemia in a rural and a peri-urban community in zanzibar, in the context of helminth control programs |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2867941/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20485491 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000681 |
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