Impact of community piped water coverage on re-infection with urogenital schistosomiasis in rural South Africa.
Mogeni, Polycarp;
Vandormael, Alain;
Cuadros, Diego;
Appleton, Christopher;
Tanser, Frank;
(2020)
Impact of community piped water coverage on re-infection with urogenital schistosomiasis in rural South Africa.
ELIFE, 9.
ISSN 2050-084X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.54012
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Previously, we demonstrated that coverage of piped water in the seven years preceding a parasitological survey was strongly predictive of Schistosomiasis haematobium infection in a nested cohort of 1976 primary school children (Tanser, 2018). Here, we report on the prospective follow up of infected members of this nested cohort (N = 333) for two successive rounds following treatment. Using a negative binomial regression fitted to egg count data, we found that every percentage point increase in piped water coverage was associated with 4.4% decline in intensity of re-infection (incidence rate ratio = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.93-0.98, p=0.004) among the treated children. We therefore provide further compelling evidence in support of the scaleup of piped water as an effective control strategy against Schistosoma haematobium transmission.