ArticleParasites & vectors2024
Capacities and needs of health care facilities for schistosomiasis diagnosis and management in elimination settings.
Article in Parasites & vectors, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Effect of behavioral interventions on schistosomiasis-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices of schoolchildren in Pemba, Tanzania: A 4-year repeated cross-sectional study.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Trial
- Evaluation of surveillance-response interventions for Schistosoma haematobium elimination on Pemba Island, Tanzania: A 4-year intervention study with repeated cross-sectional surveys.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Article
- Adaptive integrated intervention approaches for schistosomiasis elimination in Pemba: A 4-year intervention study and focus on hotspots.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- From cercariae to chronic inflammation: understanding schistosome infection and host immune responses.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Test-treat-track-test-treat (5T) approach for Schistosoma haematobium elimination on Pemba Island, Tanzania.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Article
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8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSchistosomiasis is a debilitating neglected tropical disease endemic in sub-Saharan Africa. The role of health facilities in the prevention, diagnosis, control, and elimination of schistosomiasis is poorly documented. In a setting targeted for schistosomiasis elimination in Zanzibar, we assessed the prevalence of Schistosoma haematobium among patients seeking care in a health facility and investigated schistosomiasis-related knowledge of staff, and health facilities' capacities and needs for schistosomiasis diagnosis and management.
methodsWe conducted a health facility-based mixed-method study on Pemba Island from June to August 2023. Patients aged ≥ 4 years seeking care in four health facilities were screened for S. haematobium infection using urine filtration and reagent strips. Those patients aged ≥ 10 years were additionally interviewed about signs and symptoms. Staff from 23 health facilities responded to a questionnaire assessing knowledge and practices. Ten staff participated in a focus group discussion (FGD) about capacities and needs for schistosomiasis diagnosis and management.
resultsThe prevalence of S. haematobium infection in patients attending the health facilities, as determined by the presence of eggs in urine, was 1.1% (8/712). Microhaematuria was detected in 13.3% (95/712) of the patients using reagent strips. Among patients responding to the questionnaire, pelvic pain, pain during sex, and painful urination were reported by 38.0% (237/623), 6.3% (39/623), and 3.2% (20/623), respectively. Among the health facility staff, 90.0% (44/49) and 87.8% (43/49) identified blood in urine and pelvic pain, respectively, as symptoms of urogenital schistosomiasis, 81.6% (40/49) and 93.9% (46/49) reported collecting a urine sample and pursuing a reagent strip test, respectively, for diagnosis, and 87.8% (43/49) administered praziquantel for treatment. The most reoccurring themes in the FGD were the need for more staff training about schistosomiasis, requests for diagnostic equipment, and the need to improve community response to schistosomiasis services in health facilities.
conclusionsThe prevalence of S. haematobium infection in patients seeking care in health facilities in Pemba is very low and similar to what has been reported from recent community-based cross-sectional surveys. The health facility staff had good schistosomiasis-related knowledge and practices. However, to integrate schistosomiasis patient management more durably into routine health facility activities, scalable screening pathways need to be identified and capacities need to be improved by regular staff training, and an unbroken supply of accurate point-of-care diagnostics and praziquantel for the treatment of cases.
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