Can human schistosomiasis mansoni control be sustained in high-risk transmission foci in Egypt?

Control of human schistosomiasis remains a longstanding issue on the agenda of the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP). Substantial impact on morbidity and prevalence of S. mansoni was widely reported after the National Schistosomiasis Control Program (NSCP) extended selective treatment with praziquantel (PZQ) to the Nile Delta in 1992 and upgrading this approach to mass drug administration (MDA) in 1997. Disease elimination, however, eludes NSCP as the micro-level includes many high-risk foci that sustain transmission, which has not been subjected to investigation.

The study included five high-risk Nile Delta villages situated in the Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate. The total sample size amounted to 2382 individuals of both sexes and all ages. Diagnosis was based on four Kato-Katz slides from two consecutive stool samples. Data were investigated using SPSS, comparing proportions with the Chi square test and means with the Student t test, while strength of the associations were subjected to Odds Ratio (OR) analysis.

The overall prevalence of schistosomiasis in the study area was found to be 29%, while the mean geometric mean egg count (GMEC) was low (66.78 ± 4.4) indicating low intensity of infection. The mean village prevalence rates ranged from 16.5% to 49.5% and the GMECs from 35.2 to 86.2 eggs per gram (EPG) of stool. The difference of prevalence between villages was statistically significant at P < 0.05, and the prevalence was significantly higher among males than among females, P < 0.05, OR =1.4 and 95% CI (1.16-1.60). Infection peaked in the next youngest age group (5- ≤ 10 years of age) at an average prevalence of 50.8% with the GMEC reaching 209 EPG of stool in the village with the highest prevalence. The average prevalence and GMEC among children <5 years were 20.6% and 92.7 EPG, respectively.

Transmission of S mansoni in high-risk areas in the Nile Delta remains uninterrupted calling for improved, more comprehensive control strategies. Further investigations are needed to find out whether these results are due to inefficacy of PZQ, surviving immature worms or drug resistance.