Persistence of urinary schistosomiasis in endemic areas subjected to repeated mass treatments in Mali

Abstract

Schistosomiasis is a real public health problem in endemic countries. Up to 42 of 76 concerned countries are in Africa. As second endemic disease after malaria, 230 million people are infected out of 800 million exposed people with more than 800,000 deaths annually. The objective of this study was to understand complications due to schistosomiasis by parasitological, echographical and clinical investigations in three endemic zones involved in repeated mass treatment in Ségou, Mali. The study sites are located along the Niger River in Ségou, Mali. The study population was composed by 327 subjects leaving in the villages of Guénidanga, Kalabougou and M'Pèba. Results show that young subjects less than 5 years old representing 50.80% are more infected; Followed by the age group greater than 24 (22%). Ovular load was higher in subjects from 5 to 14 years old. Although people were under repeated mass treatment, cases of complications were recorded. Prevalence infection analyses among subjects show no sex dependent. Renal and vesical lesions were higher in male gender than female. Either this could be due to a probable reinfection or to a fluctuation of interme-diate host population in those villages.