Epidemiology of soil-transmitted helminths using quantitative PCR and risk factors for hookworm and Necator americanus infection in school children in Dak Lak province, Vietnam

Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infection is driven by a complex interaction of demographic, socioeconomic and behavioural factors, including those related to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Epidemiological studies that measure both infection and potential risk factors associated with infectio...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Parasites & vectors 2023-06, Vol.16 (1), p.213-213, Article 213
Main Authors:	Hughes, Angus, Ng-Nguyen, Dinh, Clarke, Naomi E, Dyer, Clare E F, Hii, Sze Fui, Clements, Archie C A, Anderson, Roy M, Gray, Darren J, Coffeng, Luc E, Kaldor, John M, Traub, Rebecca J, Vaz Nery, Susana
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Age Caregivers Chemotherapy Children Consent Data collection Defaecation Defecation Disease transmission Education Elementary school students Epidemiology Health aspects Health risks Helminthiasis Households Hygiene Infections Minority & ethnic groups Morbidity Necator americanus Nucleotide sequence Parasites Parents & parenting Polymerase chain reaction Prevalence survey Public health Quantitative polymerase chain reaction Risk factors Risk management Rural areas Sanitation School-age children Schools Socioeconomic factors Soil-transmitted helminths Soils Statistics Students Surveys Tertiary Tropical diseases Vietnam Water supply
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infection is driven by a complex interaction of demographic, socioeconomic and behavioural factors, including those related to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Epidemiological studies that measure both infection and potential risk factors associated with infection help to understand the drivers of transmission in a population and therefore can provide information to optimise STH control programmes. During October and November 2019, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of the prevalence and intensity of STH infection and associated risk factors among 7710 primary-school-age children from 64 primary schools across 13 districts in Dak Lak province, Vietnam. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) was used to detect and quantify STH infections. The predominant STH species was the hookworm Necator americanus (overall cluster-adjusted prevalence of 13.7%), and its prevalence was heterogeneously distributed across surveyed schools (0% to 56.3%). All other STH species had a prevalence of less than 1%. Using mixed-effects logistic regression, we found that the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) was significantly higher for both infection and moderate-to-heavy-intensity infection with N. americanus among children from multiple ethnic minority groups, compared to children from the majority group (Kinh). Adjusted odds of infection with N. americanus were also higher in children who reported practising open defecation at school (aOR 1.42, 95% CI 1.05, 1.93, P = 0.02) and in those who had an unimproved household water supply (aOR 1.28, 95% CI 1.04, 1.57, P = 0.02). Conversely, children with a flushing household toilet had a reduced risk of infection (aOR 0.58, 95% CI 0.47, 0.70, P
ISSN:	1756-3305 1756-3305