Is ultrasonography useful for population studies on schistosomiasis mansoni? An evaluation based on a survey on a population from Kome Island, Tanzania.

Background: Observation of characteristic alterations at liver ultrasonography in clinical schistosomiasis mansoni cases has initiated utilization of this examination method in population surveys in areas where this disease is endemic.

Purpose: To present results of liver ultrasonography and their relation to epidemiological data of a population in an area endemic for , to estimate the precision of classification of periportal anatomy changes known as periportal fibrosis (PPF), and to evaluate the relevance of ultrasonography in epidemiological studies on .

Material And Methods: A total of 459 inhabitants on Kome Island, Lake Victoria, Tanzania were examined by ultrasound with image documentation by locally trained personnel.

Schistosomiasis-related perceptions, attitudes and treatment-seeking practices in Magu district, Tanzania: public health implications.

A study on perceptions, attitudes and treatment-seeking practices related to schistosomiasis was conducted among the Wasukuma in the rural Magu district of Tanzania at the shore of Lake Victoria where Schistosoma haematobium and mansoni infections are endemic. The study applied in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and a questionnaire survey among adults and primary school children. The perceived symptoms and causes were incongruous with the biomedical perspective and a number of respondents found schistosomiasis to be a shameful disease.

The fibre-web blood sampling technique applied to serological diagnosis of schistosomiasis mansoni.

The fibre-web technique for sampling, storing and transport of venous or capillary blood has been evaluated, in 84 schoolchildren from the Mwanza region of Tanzania, with regard to diagnostic efficacy for determination of the schistosome circulating anodic antigen (CAA) under conditions similar to those prevailing in the field. Although the average concentrations determined in fibre-web eluates were only about half of those determined in serum, the prevalences of CAA-positive individuals for the 2 sample materials were approximately the same. The average coefficient of variation calculated on determination of CAA in venous-blood fibre-web eluates amounted to 7%.

HIV incidence and HIV-associated mortality in a cohort of factory workers and their spouses in Tanzania, 1991 through 1996.

Objective: To describe HIV incidence and HIV-associated mortality in a cohort of factory workers and their spouses with access to adequate sexually transmitted diseases (STD) treatment services and moderate exposure to sexual health interventions.

Methods: Follow-up visits at 4-month intervals and home follow-up of those who failed to keep appointments were used to estimate HIV incidence and mortality in a cohort of factory workers and their spouses in Mwanza, Tanzania, during 1991 to 1996.

Results: HIV prevalence at intake was 10.

Diagnostic value of connective tissue metabolites in Schistosoma mansoni related liver disease.

Reliable non-invasive markers of hepatosplenic involvement in schistosomiasis are needed for determination of morbidity levels in endemic populations and for diagnosis and follow-up of affected individuals. Serum levels of connective tissue metabolites have been investigated as fibrosis markers in various hepatic disorders, but their accuracy in the detection of hepatosplenic schistosomiasis under endemic conditions has not been fully elucidated. 206 adult inhabitants of a Tanzanian village highly endemic for schistosomiasis mansoni (prevalence 88%) underwent clinical, parasitological and sonographic work-up; sera were tested for aminoterminal procollagen III-peptide (PIIIP), carboxyterminal procollagen IV peptide (NC1) and laminin.