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Cited by 341Parasites and Host InteractionsMollusks and Parasites StudiesParasitic infections in humans and animals

Conquering schistosomiasis in China: the long march

Jürg Utzinger, Xiao‐Nong Zhou, Minggang Chen, Robert N. Bergquist·2005·Acta Tropica
DOI 10.1016/j.actatropica.2005.08.004
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Abstract

The last half-century of schistosomiasis control activities in China have brought down the overall prevalence of human infection with Schistosoma japonicum to less than 10% of the level initially documented in the mid 1950s. Importantly, this reduction is not only, or even mainly, due to the advent of praziquantel in the 1970s and its subsequent dramatic fall in price. Instead, it is the result of a sustained, multifaceted national strategy, adapted to different eco-epidemiological settings, which has been versatile enough to permit subtle adjustments over time as the nature of the challenge changed. Consequently, prevalence has been falling relatively smoothly over the whole period rather than suddenly dropping when mass chemotherapy became feasible. Thus, early recognition of the huge public health and economic significance of the disease, and the corresponding political will to do something about it,underpinned this success. In addition, intersectoral collaboration and community participation played important roles in forming a sustained commitment to a working control strategy based on local resources. The unfolding story is presented from the early years' strong focus on snail control, by means of environmental management, to the last period of praziquantel-based morbidity control carried out under the 10-year World Bank Loan Project (WBLP). An important legacy of the WBLP is the understanding that a research component would sustain control measures and enable future progress. We are now witnessing the payoffs of this forward thinking in the form of a new promising class of drugs, improved diagnostics, and budding vaccine development in addition to novel ways of disease risk prediction and transmission control using satellite-based remote sensing. Different aspects of social and economic approaches are also covered and the importance of health promotion and education is emphasized. Issuing from the review is a set of recommendations, which might further consolidate current control activities, with the ultimate aim to eliminate schistosomiasis from the Chinese mainland.

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  • The decline in schistosomiasis due to praziquantel and strict control programs may have played a role in declining cirrhosis mortality in China.

    “The decline in schistosomiasis secondary to introduction of praziquantel and the implementation of strict control programs may have also played a role in declining cirrhosis mortality in China [59,60].”

    From Liver cirrhosis mortality in 187 countries between 1980 and 2010: a systematic analysis (2014) · cites this paper as [60]

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Authors
Utzinger, J., Zhou, X., Chen, M., & Bergquist, R. N.
Affiliations
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (CH)
ORCID
Venue
Acta Tropica
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2005-11
Volume
96
Issue
2-3
Pages
69-96
ISSN
0001-706X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.actatropica.2005.08.004
OpenAlex
W2279265926
Cited by
341
References
178
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 30 · 2013: 28 · 2012: 21
FWCI
13.93
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Acta Tropica (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Parasitology › Parasites and Host Interactions
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Insect Science › Mollusks and Parasites Studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Parasitic infections in humans and animals
Keywords
schistosomiasis japonica, schistosomiasis control, China, praziquantel, snail control, environmental management, mass chemotherapy, World Bank projects, intersectoral collaboration, community participation, health promotion, schistosomiasis elimination, political will
MeSH terms
Animals, China, Humans, Schistosomiasis japonica, Snails, Vaccines

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