Schistosoma mansoni em escolares e em trabalhadores do canteiro de obras da transposição do Rio São Francisco no município de Brejo Santo-CE

Abstract

The São Francisco River Integration Project with the watersheds of the northern Northeast can provide eco-bio-social changes that allow the increase and / or the emergence of diseases, such as schistosomiasis, in local populations and in construction workers. The project foresees the construction of two watercourses: the Northern watercourse that will bring water to the backlands of the States of Pernambuco, Ceará, Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte, and the Leste watercourse, which will benefit Pernambuco and Paraíba States. The works of the Transposition of the São Francisco River in the state of Ceará raise great concerns in the context of public health. This is justified by geographical boundaries with several states with different prevalence rates, parasitic load for Schistosoma mansoni and the presence of Biomphalaria glabrata. Thus, the determination of the presence of S. mansoni in schoolchildren from 7 to 14 years old and workers from the construction site in the municipality of Brejo-Santo-CE emerged as an alternative to detect focal areas for Schistosomiasis, in order to subsidize tools for prevention and control of this disease in the construction site workers. For this end, a cross-sectional epidemiological study was carried out to identify the presence of S. mansoni eggs through the Kato-Katz parasitological method in faeces samples (with changes in the number of slides - 3 slides of each sample) and the presence of S. mansoni circulating cathodic antigen by immunochromatographic rapid tests (POC-CCA1 and POC-CCA2) in urine of the participants.: In general, the positivity rates for S. mansoni were 1.90% (2/106) among schoolchildren and 2.88% (4/138) among workers. Two (1.44%) workers were positive by Kato-Katz and 3 (2.16%) by POC-CCA1 and POC-CCA2. No child had evidence of S. mansoni eggs by Kato-Katz; by POC-CCA2 (1.90%) were positive. If the traces were considered negative in the analysis, it would imply positivity rates of 0.95% and 0.72% for schoolchildren and workers, respectively. The active transmission of schistosomiasis in this region covered by the PISF was recognized, reinforcing the need for the development and implementation of health policies aimed at control actions and epidemiological surveillance for schistosomiasis in the context of the largest water project under construction in Brazil.