Evidence of increasing risk of schistosomiasis among school-age children in municipality of Calatrava, Province of Negros Occidental, Philippines

Child development center-based sentinel surveillance of soil-transmitted helminthiases in preschool-age children in selected local government units in the Philippines

Soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH) remains a public health concern in developing countries, such as the Philippines. Preschool-age children (PSAC) are among the high-risk groups for STH. Data on the status of STH in PSAC are needed to help guide policy formulation and program implementation; however, in the usual setting, such data may remain limited. This study aimed to describe the parasitologic status of PSAC in selected local government units (LGUs) in the Philippines through sentinel surveillance methodology in a child-development center (CDC)-based setting. This cross-sectional study, which included 1732 PSAC in selected barangays (a village or the smallest administrative unit in the country) in the provinces of Cavite, Guimaras, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, and Davao del Norte and cities of Iloilo and Lapu-Lapu in the Philippines, utilized Kato-Katz technique to determine parasitologic status. A single Kato-Katz smear was prepared from the adult-thumb sized stool sample submitted by each participant. Ten percent of Kato-Katz slides examined by field microscopists were re-examined by a reference microscopist as part of quality control. Results showed a prevalence of any STH infection and a moderate-heavy ((M-H)) intensity prevalence of 24.9% and 10.3%, respectively. Five cases of schistosomiasis were found in Lapu-Lapu City and Davao del Norte. While the Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) - Integrated Helminth Control Program (IHCP) target for prevalence of any STH of less than 50% was attained, none of the barangays or villages met the World Health Organization (WHO) target for (M-H) intensity STH prevalence of less than 1%, despite the program being implemented for almost a decade. Sentinel surveillance in PSAC, possibly adopting a CDC-based approach, may be implemented biannually in the Philippines and other countries where a similar early child care development system exist to generate data needed to guide policy formulation and program implementation. Preventive chemotherapy through facility-based mass drug administration (MDA), such as CDC-based MDA, may be explored to improve the mode of MDA delivery and coverage in PSAC.

Rapid Risk Assessment Report for Schistosomiasis Epidemic in Jianli County Caused by the Sunk "Oriental Star" Cruise Ship

BACKGROUND

At 9:28 pm on June 1, 2015, the cruise ship "Oriental Star" sank into Yangtze River in Jianli County, with 422 people killed. When the accident occurred, the Chinese government took immediate action and dispatched more than 9000 rescuers. The risk for outbreak of schistosomiasis was increased because of the shipwreck. Obviously it is critical to carry out risk assessment as soon as possible.

METHODS

By means of the Delphi method, the situation was analyzed so that the government could fathom the severity of the accident. Then, through matrix and sigma-plotting (3-dimensional graphics) methods, related authorities performed risk assessment after site investigation.

RESULTS

The latest news reported that more than 9000 people were involved in the rescue. The affected river was analyzed and mapped using SigmaPlot software, according to which the possibility, harmfulness, and controllability of the accident were determined to be medium (6), medium (6), and poor (7), respectively.

CONCLUSION

The site of the accident where the cruise ship sank and rescue operations were carried out is a schistosomiasis epidemic area with high mortality and morbidity. The chance of an outbreak of the schistosomiasis epidemic in Jianli County is quite high. To protect people in this county from the epidemic, relevant logistic services should be arranged and all remains should be cleared up carefully. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:147-153).

Disposable optics for microscopy diagnostics

The point-of-care testing (POCT) is having increasing role on modern health care systems due to a possibility to perform tests for patients conveniently and immediately. POCT includes lot of disposable devices because of the environment they are often used. For a disposable system to be reasonably utilized, it needs to be high in quality but low in price. Optics based POCT systems are interesting approach to be developed, and here we describe a low-cost fabrication process for microlens arrays for microscopy. Lens arrays having average lens diameter of 222 μm with 300 μm lens pitch were fabricated. The lenses were characterized to have standard deviation of 0.06 μm in height and 4.61 μm in diameter. The resolution limit of 3.9μm is demonstrated with real images, and the images were compared with ones made with glass and polycarbonate lens arrays. The image quality is at the same level than with the glass lenses and the manufacturing costs are very low, thus making them suitable for POCT applications.