Schistosomiasis mansoni in the Catende sugar mill plantation workers in Pernambuco, Brazil

Abstract

A sectional study on schistosomiasis mansoni was carried out at nine sugar plantations belonging to the Catende sugar mill. The plantations are located in typical sugar cane country in the southern part of the humid coastal forest region of the State of Pernambuco. Results show that schistosomiasis is a very severe disease in the area. The overall infection rate was 43.8%, distributed according to sex and age groups as shown in table 1; whereas, 64.6% of the field workers were infected. The hepatosplenic forms had a 4.1% prevalence rate (see tables 1 and 2), and on two of the plantations this rate rose to 8.7% and 9.1%. Biomphalaria straminea was the only intermediate host found in the area and was found to have the very low infection rate of 0.07% as is common in these natural conditions.