Busia & Bugiri

From 28th February to 14th March 2005, Dr Yaobi Zhang (Field Programme Co-ordinator) and Miss Fiona Fleming (Country Programme Manager) visited Busia and Bugiri districts - Lake Victoria region of Uganda - to join forces with the Vector Control Division field team in the 24-month follow-up surveillance and monitoring activities after the second round of mass schistosomiasis and deworming treatment in the region. The VCD campaign in Busia and Bugiri Districts was launched in February/March 2003. Two rounds of treatment with both praziquantel and albendazole have since been given to the school aged children and the adults in communities where there was a high (>50%) prevalence of schistosome infection. The purpose of current visit was a) to reinforce the awareness among the children of this particular health problem and the control and b) to monitor what effect the 2 rounds of treatment programme had achieved so far in improving the children’s health.

The SCI-VCD team spent two weeks in the districts and visited 10 primary schools and 3 communities. About 1200 school children and 300 community adults were examined for their Bilharzia (schistosome) infection and other intestinal helminth infections, (hookworm, ascaris and trichuris). They were also examined for any bilharzia-related morbidity by ultrasonography. The preliminary analysis showed that 2 rounds of treatment have had a great impact on these infections in the population, reducing the prevalence by over 50%. Further detailed analysis will show to what extent the childrens health has been improved. The information gathered will also be used to adjust the future treatment strategy.