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EVALUATION OF AN IMPROVED APPROACH USING RESIDENCES OF SCHISTOSOMIASIS-POSITIVE SCHOOL CHILDREN TO IDENTIFY CARRIERS IN AN AREA OF LOW ENDEMICITY

School children were used as indicators for the identification of schistosomiasis-positive family members in a area of low endemicity. This study was designed to improve current schistosomiasis control programs by applying this strategy to identify schistosomiasis-positive individuals in a more efficient way. The initial prevalence among school children was 8.6%. However, the prevalence among the family members of these school children increased to 15.5%. In contrast to these findings the prevalence in family members of schistosomiasis-negative school children was 3.8%. Although the applied methodology showed a relatively low sensitivity (50.0%), the high negative predictive value (87.7%) indicates that a few positive family members of school children with a negative stool result will be missed. This shows that this method of evaluation could be a strategy for a more efficient and cheaper identification of schistosomiasis-positive individuals in areas of low endemicity.

Received March 22, 2005. Accepted for publication June 17, 2005.

Acknowledgments: We thank José Geraldo Amorim da Silva (senior technician of the Laboratory of Intestinal Helminthiasis, Rene Rachou Research Center/FIOCRUZ) for examining the stool samples and Marion Kusel (University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland) for help in correcting the manuscript.

Financial support: This work was supported by the Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais, Brasil and Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa.

^* Address correspondence to Cristiano Lara Massara, Laboratory of Intestinal Helminthiasis, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, René Rachou Research Center, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, E-mail: massara{at}cpqrr.fiocruz.br

Authors’ addresses: Cristiano Lara Massara and Omar dos Santos Carvalho, Laboratory of Intestinal Helminthiasis, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, René Rachou Research Center, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, E-mails: massara{at}cpqrr.fiocruz.br and omar{at}cpqrr.fiocruz.br. Sérgio Viana Peixoto, Laboratory of Epidemiology and Medical Anthropology, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, René Ra-chou Research Center, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, E-mail: sergio{at}cpqrr.fiocruz.br. Martin Johannes Enk, Héliton da Silva Barros, and Virginia Schall, Laboratory Health Education, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, René Rachou Research Center, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, E-mails: marenk{at}cpqrr.fiocruz.br, barros{at}cpqrr.fiocruz.br, and vtschall{at}cpqrr.fiocruz.br. Emilia Sakurai, Department of Statistics, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, E-mail: emilia{at}est.ufing.br.

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