Jan 8, 2009 - ed from 2005 through 2007, included removing cattle from snail-infested grass- lands, providing farmers with mechanized farm equipment, ...
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A Strategy to Control Transmission of Schistosoma japonicum in China Long-De Wang, M.D., Hong-Gen Chen, Ph.D., Jia-Gang Guo, Ph.D., Xiao-Jun Zeng, M.D., Xian-Lin Hong, Ji-Jie Xiong, Xiao-Hua Wu, M.Sc., Xian-Hong Wang, Ph.D., Li-Ying Wang, Gang Xia, M.Sc., Yang Hao, M.Sc., Daniel P. Chin, M.D., and Xiao-Nong Zhou, Ph.D.
A bs t r ac t Background
Schistosoma japonicum causes an infection involving humans, livestock, and snails and is a significant cause of morbidity in China. Methods
We evaluated a comprehensive control strategy in two intervention villages and two control villages along Poyang Lake in the southeastern province of Jiangxi, where annual synchronous chemotherapy is routinely used. New interventions, implemented from 2005 through 2007, included removing cattle from snail-infested grasslands, providing farmers with mechanized farm equipment, improving sanitation by supplying tap water and building lavatories and latrines, providing boats with fecal-matter containers, and implementing an intensive health-education program. During the intervention period, we observed changes in S. japonicum infection in humans, measured the rate of infection in snails, and tested the infectivity of lake water in mice.
From the Ministry of Health, Beijing (L.-D.W., L.-Y.W., G.X., Y.H.); Jiangxi Provincial Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Nanchang (H.-G.C., X.-J.Z.); the National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai (J.-G.G., X.-H.Wu, X.-H.Wang, X.-N.Z.); Jinxian Antischistosomiasis Station, Jinxian (X.-L.H.); Office for Schistosomiasis Control of Jiangxi Provincial Government, Nanchang (J.-J.X.); and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, China Office, Beijing (D.P.C.) — all in China. Address reprint requests to Dr. Zhou at the National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai 200025, China, or at ipdzhouxn@ sh163.net. N Engl J Med 2009;360:121-8.
Results
Copyright © 2009 Massachusetts Medical Society.
After three transmission seasons, the rate of infection in humans decreased to less than 1.0% in the intervention villages, from 11.3% to 0.7% in one village and from 4.0% to 0.9% in the other (P
