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Chinese interventions reduced transmission of S. japonicum
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In China, new interventions that have now been adopted as the national strategy to reduce the spread of Schistosoma japonicum successfully helped to lower transmission rates.
The interventions — which included control strategies in humans, livestock and snails — were associated with a reduction in transmissions in humans in the two villages where they were initially implemented.
S. japonicum can cause infections in humans, livestock and snails. These infections are associated with a significant risk for morbidity in China, particularly in the province of Jaingxi, in the southeastern part of the country.
Chinese health officials chose two villages in Jaingxi as intervention villages, where a variety of new control strategies designed to reduce the spread of S. japonicum were implemented in 2005. These strategies included removing cattle from snail-infested grasslands, providing farmers with mechanized farm equipment, improving sanitation by supplying tap water, building lavatories and latrines and providing health education programs.
To study the effects of the control strategies, Chinese health officials also chose two nearby villages to serve as control villages. No changes were implemented in these villages.
Infection rates for all four villages were studied from 2005 through 2007. In the first intervention village, the rate of S. japonicum infections in humans decreased from 11.3% to 0.7% during the three years. In the second village, the rate decreased from 4% to 0.9% during the same period. In the control villages, the rate of infection fluctuated, but there was no significant difference at the end of the three seasons.
Officials from the Chinese Ministry of Health said they were pleased with the effectiveness of the intervention strategies. The Chinese government is now adopting these interventions as the national strategy to reduce the spread of S. japonicum. The interventions have been implemented in more than 90 counties in five endemic provinces in China.
N Engl J Med. 2009;360:121-128.