CONTROL OF SCHISTOSOMA MANSONI BY THE SOAPBERRY ENDOD (PHYTOLACCA DODECANDRA) IN WOLLO, NORTHEASTERN ETHIOPIA: POST-INTERVENTION PREVALENCE

Objectives: To record the effect of Endod soap and spraying of soaked Endod suspension onthe prevalence of human schistosomiasis.Design: A cross-sectional epidemiological study in which pre- and post-interventionparasitological results were compared.Setting: Kemise, Bati and Harbu towns in northeastern Ethiopia.Subjects: The study subjects included all members of the five per cent households systematicallyselected from the three towns.Results: In Kemise town, where suspension of ground Endod was sprayed on the streamcontaining infected snails, the prevalence of the disease was reduced from 59% to 53% andthe mean intensity of infection was reduced from 239 eggs per gram (EPG) of faeces to 99EPG (p < 0.05). In Bati town where Endod soap approach was used, the respective reductionin the prevalence and intensity of infection was from 51% to 43% and from 195 EPG to 162EPG (p<0.05). There was also a significant reduction of the disease in the control townprobably due to the effects of praziquantel treatment and other factors.Conclusion: The reduction achieved in the prevalence and intensity of schistosomiasis afteran intervention period of four years was limited. This observation corroborates the fact thatmolluscicides must always be considered as supplementary to chemotherapy in the controlof schistosomiasis. Although both approaches can be used, the spraying approach appearsto be simpler and more feasible because two or three times yearly application of Endodsuspension would suppress snail population and reduce transmission. Nevertheless, thechoice as to what approach to use must be made on the basis of community preference, andfor some soap-effect of Endod would be attractiv