Cargando…

Male Genital Schistosomiasis Along the Shoreline of Lake Malawi: Baseline Prevalence and Associated Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Among Local Fishermen in Mangochi District, Malawi

Male genital schistosomiasis (MGS) is an often-overlooked chronic consequence of urogenital schistosomiasis (UGS) associated with Schistosoma haematobium eggs and associated pathologies in the genital system of afflicted men. Despite the first formal description of MGS in 1911 by Madden, its epidemi...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Kayuni, Sekeleghe A., Alharbi, Mohammad H., Makaula, Peter, Lampiao, Fanuel, Juziwelo, Lazarus, LaCourse, E. James, Stothard, J. Russell
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8175656/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34095041
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.590695
_version_ 1783703089169039360
author Kayuni, Sekeleghe A.
Alharbi, Mohammad H.
Makaula, Peter
Lampiao, Fanuel
Juziwelo, Lazarus
LaCourse, E. James
Stothard, J. Russell
author_facet Kayuni, Sekeleghe A.
Alharbi, Mohammad H.
Makaula, Peter
Lampiao, Fanuel
Juziwelo, Lazarus
LaCourse, E. James
Stothard, J. Russell
author_sort Kayuni, Sekeleghe A.
collection PubMed
description Male genital schistosomiasis (MGS) is an often-overlooked chronic consequence of urogenital schistosomiasis (UGS) associated with Schistosoma haematobium eggs and associated pathologies in the genital system of afflicted men. Despite the first formal description of MGS in 1911 by Madden, its epidemiology, diagnostic testing and case management of today are not well-described. However, since several interactions between MGS and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) are known, there is renewed public health interest in MGS across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). To shed new light upon MGS in Malawi, a longitudinal cohort study was set up among fishermen along the southern shoreline of Lake Malawi in Mangochi District, Malawi, to document its prevalence and assess mens' knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP). After providing informed written consent, fishermen (n = 376) aged 18+ years (median age: 30 years, range: 18–70 years) were recruited and submitted urine and semen for point-of-care (POC) field and laboratory diagnostic parasitological tests. Individual questionnaires were administered to assess their KAP, with praziquantel (PZQ) treatment provided to all participants. Baseline prevalence of MGS (S. haematobium eggs in semen) was 10.4% (n = 114, median: 5.0 eggs per ml, range: 0.1–30.0) while for UGS (S. haematobium eggs in urine) was 17.1% (n = 210, median: 2.3 eggs per 10 ml, range: 0.1–186.0) and 3.8% were positive by POC circulating cathodic antigen (POC-CCA), indicative of a Schistosoma mansoni infection. Just under 10% of participants reported having experienced symptoms associated with MGS, namely genital or coital pain, or haemospermia. A total of 61.7% reported previous difficulties in accessing PZQ therapy, with 34.8% having received PZQ therapy before. There was a significant correlation between MGS infection and the frequency of fishing in a week (rho = −0.25, n = 100, p = 0.01). In conclusion, MGS is prevalent among local fishermen yet knowledge of the disease is poor. We therefore call for improved availability and accessibility to MGS diagnostics, PZQ treatment within ongoing control interventions. This will improve the lives and reproductive health of men, their partners and communities in this shoreline environment of Lake Malawi.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8175656
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-81756562021-06-05 Male Genital Schistosomiasis Along the Shoreline of Lake Malawi: Baseline Prevalence and Associated Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Among Local Fishermen in Mangochi District, Malawi Kayuni, Sekeleghe A. Alharbi, Mohammad H. Makaula, Peter Lampiao, Fanuel Juziwelo, Lazarus LaCourse, E. James Stothard, J. Russell Front Public Health Public Health Male genital schistosomiasis (MGS) is an often-overlooked chronic consequence of urogenital schistosomiasis (UGS) associated with Schistosoma haematobium eggs and associated pathologies in the genital system of afflicted men. Despite the first formal description of MGS in 1911 by Madden, its epidemiology, diagnostic testing and case management of today are not well-described. However, since several interactions between MGS and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) are known, there is renewed public health interest in MGS across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). To shed new light upon MGS in Malawi, a longitudinal cohort study was set up among fishermen along the southern shoreline of Lake Malawi in Mangochi District, Malawi, to document its prevalence and assess mens' knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP). After providing informed written consent, fishermen (n = 376) aged 18+ years (median age: 30 years, range: 18–70 years) were recruited and submitted urine and semen for point-of-care (POC) field and laboratory diagnostic parasitological tests. Individual questionnaires were administered to assess their KAP, with praziquantel (PZQ) treatment provided to all participants. Baseline prevalence of MGS (S. haematobium eggs in semen) was 10.4% (n = 114, median: 5.0 eggs per ml, range: 0.1–30.0) while for UGS (S. haematobium eggs in urine) was 17.1% (n = 210, median: 2.3 eggs per 10 ml, range: 0.1–186.0) and 3.8% were positive by POC circulating cathodic antigen (POC-CCA), indicative of a Schistosoma mansoni infection. Just under 10% of participants reported having experienced symptoms associated with MGS, namely genital or coital pain, or haemospermia. A total of 61.7% reported previous difficulties in accessing PZQ therapy, with 34.8% having received PZQ therapy before. There was a significant correlation between MGS infection and the frequency of fishing in a week (rho = −0.25, n = 100, p = 0.01). In conclusion, MGS is prevalent among local fishermen yet knowledge of the disease is poor. We therefore call for improved availability and accessibility to MGS diagnostics, PZQ treatment within ongoing control interventions. This will improve the lives and reproductive health of men, their partners and communities in this shoreline environment of Lake Malawi. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-05-21 /pmc/articles/PMC8175656/ /pubmed/34095041 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.590695 Text en Copyright © 2021 Kayuni, Alharbi, Makaula, Lampiao, Juziwelo, LaCourse and Stothard. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Public Health
Kayuni, Sekeleghe A.
Alharbi, Mohammad H.
Makaula, Peter
Lampiao, Fanuel
Juziwelo, Lazarus
LaCourse, E. James
Stothard, J. Russell
Male Genital Schistosomiasis Along the Shoreline of Lake Malawi: Baseline Prevalence and Associated Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Among Local Fishermen in Mangochi District, Malawi
title Male Genital Schistosomiasis Along the Shoreline of Lake Malawi: Baseline Prevalence and Associated Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Among Local Fishermen in Mangochi District, Malawi
title_full Male Genital Schistosomiasis Along the Shoreline of Lake Malawi: Baseline Prevalence and Associated Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Among Local Fishermen in Mangochi District, Malawi
title_fullStr Male Genital Schistosomiasis Along the Shoreline of Lake Malawi: Baseline Prevalence and Associated Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Among Local Fishermen in Mangochi District, Malawi
title_full_unstemmed Male Genital Schistosomiasis Along the Shoreline of Lake Malawi: Baseline Prevalence and Associated Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Among Local Fishermen in Mangochi District, Malawi
title_short Male Genital Schistosomiasis Along the Shoreline of Lake Malawi: Baseline Prevalence and Associated Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Among Local Fishermen in Mangochi District, Malawi
title_sort male genital schistosomiasis along the shoreline of lake malawi: baseline prevalence and associated knowledge, attitudes and practices among local fishermen in mangochi district, malawi
topic Public Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8175656/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34095041
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.590695
work_keys_str_mv AT kayunisekeleghea malegenitalschistosomiasisalongtheshorelineoflakemalawibaselineprevalenceandassociatedknowledgeattitudesandpracticesamonglocalfishermeninmangochidistrictmalawi
AT alharbimohammadh malegenitalschistosomiasisalongtheshorelineoflakemalawibaselineprevalenceandassociatedknowledgeattitudesandpracticesamonglocalfishermeninmangochidistrictmalawi
AT makaulapeter malegenitalschistosomiasisalongtheshorelineoflakemalawibaselineprevalenceandassociatedknowledgeattitudesandpracticesamonglocalfishermeninmangochidistrictmalawi
AT lampiaofanuel malegenitalschistosomiasisalongtheshorelineoflakemalawibaselineprevalenceandassociatedknowledgeattitudesandpracticesamonglocalfishermeninmangochidistrictmalawi
AT juziwelolazarus malegenitalschistosomiasisalongtheshorelineoflakemalawibaselineprevalenceandassociatedknowledgeattitudesandpracticesamonglocalfishermeninmangochidistrictmalawi
AT lacourseejames malegenitalschistosomiasisalongtheshorelineoflakemalawibaselineprevalenceandassociatedknowledgeattitudesandpracticesamonglocalfishermeninmangochidistrictmalawi
AT stothardjrussell malegenitalschistosomiasisalongtheshorelineoflakemalawibaselineprevalenceandassociatedknowledgeattitudesandpracticesamonglocalfishermeninmangochidistrictmalawi