Schistosoma japonicum risk in Jiangsu province, People’s Republic of China: identification of a spatio-temporal risk pattern along the Yangtze River

Abstract

Abstract. The risk for Schistosoma japonicum infection in Jiangsu province, People's Republic of China, was investigated by a mouse bioassay. Various investigations were conducted in the period 2009-2011 with the presentation here representing the summary of the results from 45-50 sites in the marshlands along the Yangtze River's course through the province. Indices representing three aspects of the infection were collected to assess risk: (i) the proportion of sentinel points where at least one mouse infection was recorded; (ii) the proportion of infected mice at each of these sites; and (iii) the average worm burdens. Directional distribution analysis and scan statistics were used to explore the spatio-temporal risk pattern. The spatial distribution was oriented along the Yangtze River and the directional distributions for the proportion of infected mice and mean worm burdens were similar for the positive sentinel sites. Four statistically significant clusters were detected in 2009, but only one in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Temporal windows for infection risk were seen in June and September. The study illustrates the utility of spatio-temporal analysis in assessing the risk for schistosomiasis. This approach should be useful with respect to surveillance and response that can be expected to be increasingly applied when moving from morbidity control to transmission control.

Exploration on the risk factors of pulmonary tuberculosis incidence in Wenchuan earthquake-stricken area

“…With the development of computer technology and MCMC algorithms, Bayesian statistics had been applied to various fields including public health, such as worm infection studies from Lai and Chammartin, Li and Maciel's study on TB, hookworm infection from Raso, Yang's study on schistosomiasis, and brucellosis research from Zheng…”

Approaches being used in the national schistosomiasis elimination programme in China: a review

“…This device increases the likelihood of detection of S. japonicum cercariae through the remote-controlled movement in the water body. Field test showed that the detector reduced the detection from 8 h to 1 h, and increased S. japonicum infection from 15 to 40% in sentinel mice, and the intensity of infection (worm burden) from 0.25 to 2.55 worms per mouse [74]. The intelligent detector greatly enhances the efficiency for the field detection of the infested water, and has played a critical role in the surveillance-response system for schistosomiasis along the lower reaches of the Yangtze River basin [75].…”

Advances in the Diagnosis of Human Schistosomiasis

“…However, this approach has the limitations common to the other conventional techniques discussed above. Infection of sentinel mice has also been used to identify transmission sites and to assess the risk for schistosomiasis in China (335).…”