Screening for schistosomiasis with questionnaires.
New schistosomiasis control initiatives have been launched to reduce significantly the current global burden of this disease, mainly through regular administration of praziquantel to schoolchildren living in endemic areas. Because schistosomiasis is distributed focally, epidemiological tools for rapid and inexpensive identification of communities at highest risk of morbidity are required to target praziquantel most efficiently. This article outlines the development and validation of simple questionnaires for screening of Schistosoma haematobium and Schistosoma mansoni in sub-Saharan Africa.
Lengeler
Christian
C
Swiss Tropical Institute, Dept of Epidemiology and Public Health, PO Box, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland. christian.lengeler@unibas.ch
Utzinger
Jürg
J
Tanner
Marcel
M
D017954:Africa South of the Sahara / Q000453:epidemiology; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012548:Schistosoma haematobium / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012550:Schistosoma mansoni / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012553:Schistosomiasis haematobia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D012555:Schistosomiasis mansoni / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D012574:Schools; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires