Abstract
BackgroundThe 2030 goal for schistosomiasis is elimination as a public health problem (EPHP), with mass drug administration (MDA) of praziquantel to school-age children (SAC) as a central pillar of the strategy. However, due to coronavirus disease 2019, many mass treatment campaigns for schistosomiasis have been halted, with uncertain implications for the programmes.MethodsWe use mathematical modelling to explore how postponement of MDA and various mitigation strategies affect achievement of the EPHP goal for Schistosoma mansoni and S. haematobium.ResultsFor both S. mansoni and S. haematobium in moderate- and some high-prevalence settings, the disruption may delay the goal by up to 2 y. In some high-prevalence settings, EPHP is not achievable with current strategies and so the disruption will not impact this. Here, increasing SAC coverage and treating adults can achieve the goal. The impact of MDA disruption and the appropriate mitigation strategy varies according to the baseline prevalence prior to treatment, the burden of infection in adults and the stage of the programme.ConclusionsSchistosomiasis MDA programmes in medium- and high-prevalence areas should restart as soon as is feasible and mitigation strategies may be required in some settings.
Highlights
Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease affecting millions of people in several endemic regions.[1]
We present results for the effect of mass drug administration (MDA) postponement due to COVID-19 and the impact of mitigation strategies to get back on track towards achieving elimination as a public health problem (EPHP) by 2030
school-age children (SAC) prevalence), with 75% coverage the EPHP goal is achieved after one round of MDA, so there is no delay towards the goal when the second MDA is missed
Summary
Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease affecting millions of people in several endemic regions.[1] Intestinal (caused by Schistosoma mansoni or Schistosoma japonicum) and urogenital (caused by Schistosoma haematobium) are the two most prevalent forms of human schistosomiasis.[2] At present, mass drug administration (MDA) of praziquantel to school-age children (SAC; 5–14 y of age) is the main method of reducing the burden of morbidity associated with this infection.[3,4] Control programmes include recommending behaviour modification and improvements in sanitation to lower the intensity of transmission.[5,6]. The 2030 goal for schistosomiasis is elimination as a public health problem (EPHP), with mass drug administration (MDA) of praziquantel to school-age children (SAC) as a central pillar of the strategy. Due to coronavirus disease 2019, many mass treatment campaigns for schistosomiasis have been halted, with uncertain implications for the programmes
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