The Boqueron Project after 5 Years: A Prospective Community-Based Study of Infection with Schistosoma Mansoni in Puerto Rico *
- 1 November 1980
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
- Vol. 29 (6), 1228-1240
- https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.1980.29.1228
Abstract
The Boqueron Schistosomiasis Project is a prospective community-based study of Schistosoma mansoni infection after the interruption of transmission by nonchemotherapeutic control measures. The study methods and the parasitologic results of the first five annual stool surveys are described in this report. In the first year, 1972, among 904 inhabitants (88% of the total population) the prevalence of infection was 40%, and the geometric mean intensity of infection among positives was 16.1 eggs per gram (epg). Snail control was begun in early 1973 with molluscicides and habitat modification. Intensive monitoring every 2 weeks revealed only 63 noninfected Biomphalaria glabrata in the community during the subsequent 4 years. The incidence of new infections among people negative in all previous surveys dropped from 17% in 1972 to 1% in 1974 and has remained negligible since then. Among young children and newborn, only four new infections (all less than 5 epg) were found after the first control year. Despite this low rate of transmission, prevalence only decreased from 37% to 34%, and the population geometric mean fecal egg output has not substantially changed in a cohort of 528 individuals examined in each of the six annual surveys. Possible reasons for the minimal change in parasitologic status are discussed and include water contact behavior outside the community and changes in laboratory techniques. Data from the first 5 years of the study suggest that in a population where mean intensity of infection with S. mansoni is low, further decreases in prevalence and intensity of infection occur slowly. The implications for control programs based on nonchemotherapeutic measures are discussed.This publication has 10 references indexed in Scilit:
- Schistosomiasis Control in Puerto RicoThe American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 1979
- Intensity of Infection with Schistosoma Mansoni: Its Relationship to the Sensitivity and Specificity of Serologic Tests *The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 1979
- Limitations of the Intradermal Test for Schistosomiasis Mansoni: Experience from Epidemiologic Studies in a Puerto Rican Community *The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 1978
- EVALUATION OF AN EXPERIMENTAL MOLLUSCICIDING PROGRAM TO CONTROL SCHISTOSOMA-MANSONI TRANSMISSION IN ST-LUCIA1978
- Morbidity from Schistosoma Mansoni in a Puerto Rican Community: a Population-Based Study *The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 1977
- A Modification of the Formol-Ether Concentration Technique for Increased Sensitivity in Detecting Schistosoma Mansoni EggsThe American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 1976
- Acute Schistosomiasis Mansoni in 10 BoysAnnals of Internal Medicine, 1970
- ON MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS OF SCHISTOSOME POPULATIONS1965
- Longevity of Schistosoma hematobium and Schistosoma mansoni: Observations Based on a CaseJournal of Parasitology, 1953
- Longevity of Schistosoma Mansoni: Observations Based on a Case 1The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 1949