[Effectiveness of integrated soil-borne nematodiasis and clonorchiasis control programmes in Guizhou Province from...

To evaluate the effectiveness of the integrated soil-borne nematodiasis and clonorchiasis control programmesin Guizhou Province from 2019 to 2023, so as to provide insights into formulation of appropriate parasitic disease control strategies in the province.

From 2019 to 2023, Shiqian County in Tongren City and Zhenfeng County in Qianxi'nan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture were selected as pilot counties in Guizhou Province for soil-borne nematodiasis prevention and control programmes, and Rongjiang County in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture was selected as a pilot county for clonorchiasis control programmes. Integrated control measures were implemented in these 3 pilot counties, including surveys on human parasitic infections, deworming, health education and improved water and sanitation. At least 1 000 individuals were sampled from each of three pilot counties using a stratified multi-stage random sampling method from 2019 to 2023 for detection of soil-borne nematodes and Clonorchis sinensis human infections, and the awareness of soil-borne nematodiasis and clonorchiasis control knowledge was investigated among residents in pilot counties using questionnaire surveys. In addition, the implementation of deworming and coverage of sanitary toilets and safe drinking water were collected in three pilot counties.

The prevalence of soil-borne nematode human infections reduced from 7.78% (79/1 016), 2.80% (28/1 001) and 14.40% (144/1 000) in 2019 to 1.18% (12/1 014), 1.38% (14/1 001) and 2.73% (28/1 024) in 2023 in Shiqian County, Zhenfeng County, and Rongjiang County, respectively (χ² = 51.51, 4.91 and 88.54, all P values < 0.05). No C. sinensis human infections were detected in Shiqian County or Zhenfeng County from 2019 to 2023, and the prevalence of C. sinensis human infections reduced from 1.80% (18/1 000) in 2019 to 0.29% (3/1 024) in 2023 in Rongjiang County (χ² = 11.19, P < 0.05). Free deworming was provided to 574 cases with soil-borne nematode infections and 47 cases with C. sinensis infections detected in three pilot counties from 2019 to 2023. The coverage of health education was 100.00% in both Zhenfeng County and Shiqian County during the period from 2019 to 2023, and the awareness of soil-borne nematodiasis control knowledge increased from 93.60% (234/250) in Zhenfeng County and 70.97% (577/813) in Shiqian County in 2019 to 99.20% (248/250) and 98.40% (492/500) in 2023, respectively. The coverage of health education increased from 60.07% (161/268) in 2019 to 100.00% (250/250) in 2023 in Rongjiang County, and the awareness of clonorchiasis control knowledge increased from 80.67% (121/150) in 2019 to 99.20% (248/250) in 2023. The coverage of sanitary toilets increased from 48.89% (61 078/124 935), 34.20% (40 381/118 085) and 70.55% (60 604/85 920) in 2019 to 65.87% (77 649/117 878), 56.00% (63 252/112 948) and 89.15% (72 737/81 590) in 2023 in Shiqian County, Zhenfeng County and Rongjiang County, respectively, and the coverage of safe drinking water was all 100.00% in both Shiqian County and Rongjiang County during the 5-year study period, and increased from 85.33% (100 765/118 085) in 2019 to 100.00% (112 948/112 948) in 2023 in Zhenfeng County.

There were remarkable reductions in the prevalence of soil-borne nematodes human infections in Shiqian County, Zhenfeng County, and Rongjiang County and in the prevalence of C. sinensis human infections in Rongjiang County, Guizhou Province following the 5-year integrated control programmes from 2019 to 2023. The wide-spread application of the health education-led and human parasitic diseases examination and treatment-based integrated soil-borne nematodiasis and clonorchiasis control programmes seems justified.