Identification of areas with potentially high risk transmission of Schistsoma mansoni infections in Makenene in the Centre region of Cameroon.

Schistosomiasis remains a major public health problem worldwide. Some disparities in terms of prevalence and infection intensities have been acknowledge within and between schistosomiasis endemic areas. The current control measures did not take into consideration the disparities within endemic areas. To improve schistosomiasis control, a fine mapping of schistosome infections and their infection intensities were undertaken to identify areas with potential high transmission risk and where control operations must be boosted to achieve the elimination. During a cross-sectional study conducted in November 2020 at Makenene 2253 urine and 1773 stool samples were collected from School aged-children. After identification of schistosome infections by Point of care circulating cathodic antigen (POC-CCA) and Kato-Katz (KK) test, the geographical coordinates of the house of each infected child were recorded using a Global Position System device (GPS). QGis software was used to create a map showing schistosome infections and their infection intensities. The prevalence of S. mansoni infections inferred from POC-CCA and KK were 51.35% and 7.30% respectively. These prevalence varied significantly according to age and sex. The majority of infected children and those bearing high infections intensities were reported mostly in Baloua, Carrière and Mock-Sud quarter of Makenene. This study confirmed the low sensitivity of KK test and high capacity of POC-CCA to accurately identify children with schistosome infection and bearing different schistosome burden. The fine mapping of schistosome infection and their infection intensities enable to identify hotspot transmission site where control strategy must be boosted in order to achieve the elimination of intestinal schistosomiasis at Makenene.

Key words: Schistosoma mansoni, Kato-Katz, POC-CCA, Fine mapping