Driven by the National Mid- and Long-term Plan for Schistosomiasis Prevention and Control, which was launched in 2004, China has made further achievements in schistosomiasis prevention and control. In order to understand the epidemic trend of schistosomiasis and evaluate the implementation effect of comprehensive prevention and control strategies, we analyzed the schistosomiasis surveillance data from 2005 to 2015. The results showed that the antibody positivity rate among residents dropped from 17.48% (95% CI: 17.20–17.75%) in 2005 to 5.93% (95% CI: 5.71–6.15%) in 2015, and the corrected schistosomiasis infection rate among residents increased from 2005 to 2015. dropped from 2.07% (95% CI: 1.96–2.17%) to 0.13% (95% CI: 0.09–0.16%) in 2015, while the infection rate also dropped significantly. In 2015, positive fecal test results were only found among farmers and fishermen, and the infection rates were 0.16% (95% CI: 0.11–0.20%) and 0.17% (95% CI: 0 –0.50%) respectively. The infection rate of livestock also dropped from 9.42% (538/5711, 95% CI: 8.66–10.18%) in 2005 to 0.08% (2/2360, 95% CI: 0 –0.20%) in 2015. Domestic animals also tend to be homogeneous.
During the monitoring period, a total of 980,000 square meters of new snail-infested areas were discovered, 94.90% (93/98) of which were located at monitoring points in the lake area. The prevalence of snail infection decreased from 0.26% (663/256 531, 95% CI: 0.24–0.28%) in 2005 to zero. Monitoring point data show that China has achieved the 2015 transmission control goal set by the National Medium- and Long-term Plan for Schistosomiasis Prevention and Control. The goal of eliminating schistosomiasis as a public health problem set by the WHO has also been achieved in China ahead of schedule. However, to achieve the ultimate goal of eliminating schistosomiasis, it is still necessary to strengthen and improve the schistosomiasis surveillance and response system.
This article was published in the journal Infectious diseases of Poverty. Researcher Xu Jing is the first author and Researcher Zhou Xiaonong is the corresponding author.
Released by the National Institute of Parasitic Diseases (IPD), Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC)
Translated by Zheng Qi