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Exposure to Schistosoma mansoni infection in a rural area in Brazil. Part III: household aggregation of water-contact behaviour

  1. Jeffrey Bethony1,
  2. Jeff T. Williams2,
  3. Simon Brooker3,
  4. Andrea Gazzinelli4,
  5. Maria F. Gazzinelli4,
  6. Philip T. LoVerde5,
  7. Rodrigo Corrêa-Oliveira6,
  8. Helmut Kloos7

Article first published online: 27 FEB 2004

DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-3156.2004.01203.x

Issue

Tropical Medicine & International Health

Tropical Medicine & International Health

Volume 9, Issue 3, pages 381–389, March 2004

Additional Information

How to Cite

Bethony, J., Williams, J. T., Brooker, S., Gazzinelli, A., Gazzinelli, M. F., LoVerde, P. T., Corrêa-Oliveira, R. and Kloos, H. (2004), Exposure to Schistosoma mansoni infection in a rural area in Brazil. Part III: household aggregation of water-contact behaviour. Tropical Medicine & International Health, 9: 381–389. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3156.2004.01203.x

Author Information

  1. 1

     Department of Microbiology & Tropical Medicine, The George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA

  2. 2

     Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, San Antonio, TX, USA

  3. 3

     Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

  4. 4

     Escola de Enfermagem, Universidade Federal Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais, Brazil

  5. 5

     School of Medical and Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo, NY, USA

  6. 6

     Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, FIOCRUZ, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

  7. 7

     Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California at San Francisco, CA, USA

*Authors Jeffrey Bethony (corresponding author), Department of Microbiology & Tropical Medicine, George Washington University Medical Center, Ross Hall Room 727, 2300 Eye Street NW, Washington, DC 20037, USA. E-mail: mtmjmb@gwumc.edu Jeff T. Williams, Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, 7620 NW Loop 410, San Antonio, TX 78227-5301, USA. E-mail: jeffw@darwin.sfbr.org Simon Brooker, Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK. E-mail: simon.brooker@lshtm.ac.uk Andrea Gazzinelli and Maria Flavia Gazzinelli, Escola de Enfermagem, Universidade Federal Minas Gerais, Av. Alfredo Balena 190, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil 30. 350–250. E-mail: andreag@enf.ufmg.br, flavia@enf.ufmg.br Philip T. LoVerde, Department of Microbiology, School of Medical and Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo, 3435 Main Street, Buffalo, New York 14216, USA. E-mail: loverde@buffalo.edu Rodrigo Corrêa-Oliveira, Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, FIOCRUZ, Av. Augusto de Lima, 1715, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil 301 900-002 Brazil. E-mail: correa@cpqrr.fiocruz.br Helmut Kloos, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California at San Francisco, 94143-0560, CA, USA. E-mail: helmutkloss55@hotmail.com

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 27 FEB 2004
  2. Article first published online: 27 FEB 2004

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Keywords:

  • water-contact behaviour;
  • schistosomiasis;
  • household effects;
  • Brazil

Summary

Much research points to the importance of the household in the study of water-borne diseases such as schistosomiasis. An important aspect of the household is the clustering of domestic activities associated with water collection, storage and usage. Such activities can result in the sharing of water-contact sites and water-contact behaviour, which expose household members to similar risks of infection. In previous studies, we determined that shared residence accounted for 28% of the variance in Schistosoma faecal egg excretion rates. We now quantify the effect of shared residence on the variation in water-related health behaviours. We found that shared residence accounted for 30% of the variation in total water contacts per week. It also accounted for a large proportion of the variation in individual water-contact behaviour: e.g. agricultural contacts (63%), washing limbs (56%) or bathing (41%). These results implicate the household as an important composite measure of the complex relationships between socioeconomic, environmental and behavioural factors that influence water-contact behaviour and, therefore, the transmission of schistosomiasis. Our results also support a focus on the household in the implementation of schistosomiasis prevention and control efforts.

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