Ecohealth approach to public health intervention on Schistosoma mekongi

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K13126
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Area studies
• Research Institution: Nagasaki University
• Principal Investigator: MOJI Kazuhiko 長崎大学, 熱帯医学・グローバルヘルス研究科, 教授 (80166321)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: エコヘルス・アプローチ / 患者登録システム / 環境改善 / リスク暴露削減

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Schistosoma mekongi is an infectious disease caused by flukes and endemic in the Mekong river basin on the Lao-Cambodian border. As its transmission cycle is entangled with local ecosystem and the behavior of local human population, mass drug administration (MDA) has limited impact on control and prevention. Based on the method of area studies, ecohealth approach should be developed for effective intervention. With this goal in mind, this study investigated the prevalence in an endemic area to identify the problem in past control procedure. Stool examination found the relatively high prevalence in spite of the treatment recently given. Questionnaire survey found that most people are ignorant of cause and prevention of the disease. We also found the MDAs were implemented without individual registration so that we cannot track the outcome of past treatment. It is necessary to set up long-term surveillance system for control program to be more effective.

Free Research Field

人類生態学　グローバルヘルス