Schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminth infections – preliminary estimates of the number of children treated with albendazole or mebendazole

Overview

The burden of disease caused by infection with schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminths (STH) remains enormous. About 2 billion people are affected worldwide, of whom 300 million suffer associated severe morbidity. In 1999, WHO estimated that these infections represented more than 40% of the disease burden caused by all tropical diseases, excluding malaria.

Hygiene and play habits make children especially vulnerable to schistosome and STH infections. The 400 million school-age children who are infected are often physically and intellectually compromised by anaemia, leading to attention deficits, learning disabilities, school absenteeism and higher drop-out rates. The failure to treat school-age children therefore hampers child development, yields a generation of adults disadvantaged by the irreversible sequelae of infection, and compromises the economic development of communities and nations.

Of the 200 million people with schistosomiasis, 85% live in Africa, where the burden of disease caused by schistosome infection has recently been re-estimated: 570 million may have haematuria associated with Schistosoma haematobium infection, 18 million major bladder wall pathology and 10 million hydronephrosis. It is estimated that kidney failure due to S. haematobium causes 150 000 deaths each year and that portal hypertension due to S. mansoni produces 130 000 fatalities annually.