Evaluating Predictive Value of Schistosoma mansoni Prevalence and Infection Intensity in School-Age Children in Estimating Community-Wide Prevalence in Siaya County, Western Kenya

Abstract/Overview

Background Various milestones have been set targeting the elimination of schistosomiasis with the vision of “a world free of schistosomiasis” including the 2020 and 2025 goals. Despite the increased control and prevention efforts, schistosomiasis still affects many people, partly because treatment doesn’t cover all at-risk populations. Preventive chemotherapy (PC), the cornerstone of control interventions is primarily inclined toward school age children (SAC), whose prevalence also informs interventions for other age groups in the community. Whereas prevalence in SAC has been shown to be a good indicator of the prevalence in other age groups, it remains to be seen as if this is not true in different epidemiological settings and risk areas. Methods This study evaluated the predictive value of schistosomiasis prevalence among SAC in estimating community wide prevalence in Siaya County, Kenya. A single stool sample was collected from participants aged 2-50 years. Stool samples were collected from preschool-age children (2-6 years), SAC (7-14 years), adolescents (15 to 0 to