THE POPULATION BIOLOGY AND EPIDEMIOLOGY OF SCHISTOSOME AND GEOHELMINTH INFECTIONS AMONG SCHOOLCHILDREN IN TANZANIA

A study of helminth infections was undertaken among 3244 schoolchildre n from 28 schools in Morogoro Rural District, Tanzania. Schistosoma ha ematobium was the most common infection, followed by hookworms, Ascari s lumbricoides, S. mansoni, and Trichuris trichiura. Infection prevale nce of each species varied among schools and age groups, but not betwe en sexes. There was no relationship between the prevalences of differe nt infections among schools, except for a strong negative correlation between the prevalence of hookworm and S. mansoni infections. Within e ach age group, there was little excess overlap in the distribution of each infection; thus the number of multiple infections was low whereas the number of individuals harbouring at least one infection was relat ively high. More children than expected carried infections of A. lumbr icoides and S. mansoni, and the clustering effect increased with age. Only 2 schools had high overall infection prevalences of both geohelmi nths and schistosomes. Logistic regression analysis of morbidity and p arasitological data indicated that individuals with multiple species i nfections were not at increased risk of morbidity (on a multiplicative scale) compared to individuals with single species infections. This w as attributed in part to the low egg counts observed for each parasite species. The results implied little interaction between schistosome a nd geohelminth infections in the region, both in parasitological terms and in the context of their combined effects on health. Implications for the feasibility and benefits of combined control of geohelminths a nd schistosomes are discussed.