Abstract
Background Schistosoma mansoni is a parasitic worm that infects humans throughout the world. It is more prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa including Ethiopia. Proper detection of Schistosoma mansoni using sensitive diagnostic methods is crucial in the prevention and control era. Since direct wet mount microscopy with its low sensitivity has been used as a diagnostic technique in Ethiopia, searching alternative diagnostic methods which have better sensitivity should be a priority agenda. Objective This study is aimed at evaluating the performance of diagnostic methods for Schistosoma mansoni in Amhara region. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 520 school children from October to December 2019 in Amhara region. The study participants were selected by a systematic random sampling technique. Stool samples were collected from each participant and processed via formol-ether concentration, Kato-Katz, and spontaneous tube sedimentation techniques. The data was entered into EpiData version 3.1, and analysis was done using SPSS version 20. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were calculated against the combined result as “Gold” standard. A kappa value was computed to measure the strength of agreement of the diagnostic methods. Results The overall prevalence of Schistosoma mansoni was 20.2% using a combination of three methods. The prevalence of 8.3%, 12.9%, and16.3%, respectively, was recorded by using formol-ether concentration, Kato-Katz, and spontaneous tube sedimentation. The spontaneous tube sedimentation method (81.0%) had better sensitivity compared to Kato-Katz (63.8%) and formol-ether concentration (41.0%) methods in Schistosoma mansoni detection. Conclusion The spontaneous tube sedimentation technique is more sensitive and has better detection rate to Schistosoma mansoni infection followed by the Kato-Katz technique. Therefore, updating the current diagnostic methods for Schistosoma mansoni could be a priority agenda to take action in schistosomiasis prevention and control.
Highlights
Schistosoma mansoni infection is one of the most important public health infections among the genus Schistosoma [1]
In Ethiopia, the number of people living in Schistosoma endemic areas is estimated at 37.3 million [3, 4]
The intensity of S. mansoni infection in the present study shows light (73.1%), moderate (23.9%), and heavy (3.0%) among the total S. mansoni positive school children which is comparable with a study done in Azezo [32], but it is quite different from Sanja, Northwest Ethiopia (18.4% light, 47% moderate, and 18.7% heavy) [8]; this might be due to the variation of infection rate
Summary
Schistosoma mansoni infection is one of the most important public health infections among the genus Schistosoma [1]. Schistosoma mansoni is a parasitic worm that infects humans throughout the world It is more prevalent in subSaharan Africa including Ethiopia. Proper detection of Schistosoma mansoni using sensitive diagnostic methods is crucial in the prevention and control era. This study is aimed at evaluating the performance of diagnostic methods for Schistosoma mansoni in Amhara region. Stool samples were collected from each participant and processed via formol-ether concentration, Kato-Katz, and spontaneous tube sedimentation techniques. The spontaneous tube sedimentation method (81.0%) had better sensitivity compared to Kato-Katz (63.8%) and formol-ether concentration (41.0%) methods in Schistosoma mansoni detection. The spontaneous tube sedimentation technique is more sensitive and has better detection rate to Schistosoma mansoni infection followed by the Kato-Katz technique. Updating the current diagnostic methods for Schistosoma mansoni could be a priority agenda to take action in schistosomiasis prevention and control
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