Prevalence, Intensity, and Correlates of Soil-Transmitted Helminth Infections among School Children after a Decade of Preventive Chemotherapy in Western Rwanda
Joseph Kabatende,
Michael Mugisha,
Lazare Ntirenganya,
Abbie Barry,
Eugene Ruberanziza,
Jean Bosco Mbonigaba,
Ulf Bergman,
Emile Bienvenu,
Eleni Aklillu
Affiliations
Joseph Kabatende
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge,14186 Stockholm, Sweden
Michael Mugisha
College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, KK 737 Kigali, Rwanda
Lazare Ntirenganya
Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority, Nyarutarama Plaza, KG 9 Avenue Kigali, Rwanda
Abbie Barry
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge,14186 Stockholm, Sweden
Eugene Ruberanziza
Neglected Tropical Disease and Other Parasitic Disease Unit, Rwanda Biomedical Center, KG 17 Ave Kigali, Rwanda
Jean Bosco Mbonigaba
Neglected Tropical Disease and Other Parasitic Disease Unit, Rwanda Biomedical Center, KG 17 Ave Kigali, Rwanda
Ulf Bergman
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge,14186 Stockholm, Sweden
Emile Bienvenu
College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, KK 737 Kigali, Rwanda
Eleni Aklillu
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge,14186 Stockholm, Sweden
Preventive chemotherapy (PC) is a WHO-recommended core intervention measures to eliminate Soil-Transmitted Helminths (STH) as a public health problem by 2020, defined as a reduction in prevalence to Trichirus trichiura was the most common STH (66.8%, range between districts = 23% to 88.2%), followed by Ascaris lumbricoides (49.9%, range between district = 28.5% to 63.3%) and hookworms (1.9%, range between districts = 0.6% to 2.9%). The prevalence of single, double and of triple parasite coinfection were 48.6%, 50.3%, and 1.1%, respectively. The overall prevalence of moderate or high-intensity infection for Trichirus trichiura and Ascaris lumbricoides was 7.1% and 13.9, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression model revealed that male sex, district, stunting, and schistosomiasis coinfection as significant predictors of STH infection. Despite a decade of PC implementation, STH remain a significant public health problem in Rwanda.
