Abstract
In the next century, global warming, due to changes in climatic factors, is expected to have an enormous influence on the interactions between pathogens and their hosts. Over the years, the rate at which vector-borne diseases and their transmission dynamics modify and develop has been shown to be highly dependent to a certain extent on changes in temperature and geographical distribution. Schistosomiasis has been recognized as a tropical and neglected vector-borne disease whose rate of infection has been predicted to be elevated worldwide, especially in sub-Saharan Africa; the region currently with the highest proportion of people at risk, due to changes in climate. This review not only suggests the need to develop an efficient and effective model that will predict Schistosoma spp. population dynamics but seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of several current control strategies. The design of a framework model to predict and accommodate the future incidence of schistosomiasis in human population dynamics in sub-Saharan Africa is proposed. The impact of climate change on schistosomiasis transmission as well as the distribution of several freshwater snails responsible for the transmission of Schistosoma parasites in the region is also reviewed. Lastly, this article advocates for modelling several control mechanisms for schistosomiasis in sub-Saharan Africa so as to tackle the re-infection of the disease, even after treating infected people with praziquantel, the first-line treatment drug for schistosomiasis.
Highlights
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a group of chronic infectious diseases that have been ignored for several decades but which typically affect poor people who live on wages below US $2 per day, those living in poor rural areas as well as destitute urban regions with limited access to public health facilities, which are prominent in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) [1,2,3]
It is composed of four groups of species: B. africanus, B. forskalii, B. reticulatus, and B. tropicus, which are all sub-divided into 37 species with some species responsible for the transmission of S. intercalatum and S. haematobium larval parasites
In SSA, over 112 million cases of urogenital schistosomiasis are caused by S. haematobium, which accounts for about 50% of the total incidence of Schistosoma infection in this region [5,42]
Summary
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a group of chronic infectious diseases that have been ignored for several decades but which typically affect poor people who live on wages below US $2 per day, those living in poor rural areas as well as destitute urban regions with limited access to public health facilities, which are prominent in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) [1,2,3]. Schistosomiasis, known as bilharzia, is identified as the second most widespread NTD in SSA after hookworm infections [4]. It is a parasitic infection which results in acute and chronic disease caused by trematode flatworms of the Schistosoma genus. Understanding the relationship between the variability in climate change and the life cycle of the schistosome worm will be a promising and predictive target in the control of schistosomiasis in the sub-Saharan Africa region
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