Abstract

CONCEICAO, Maria José; BORGES-PEREIRA, José  and  COURA, José Rodrigues. A thirty years follow-up study on Schistosomiasis mansoni in a community of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz [online]. 2007, vol.102, n.8, pp. 1007-1009. ISSN 0074-0276.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0074-02762007000800019.

During thirty years - 1973-2003 - a group of individuals infected by Schistosoma mansoni in Capitão Andrade, Rio Doce Valley, Minas Gerais, Brazil, was evaluated by the same authors, being one of the longest follow-up studies on schistosomiasisis mansoni in an endemic area. The diagnosis of S. mansoni was based on parasitological stool tests. In the clinical classification, three groups were considered: type I - schistosomiasis-infection, type II - hepatointestinal form, and type III- hepatosplenic form. The prevalence of infection were 60.8% in 1973, 36.2% in 1984, 27.3% in 1994, and 19.4% in 2003, while the index of hepatosplenomegaly were respectively 5.8%, 2.8%, 2.3% and 1.3%. The maintenance of high prevalence and severity of clinical forms are probably related to reinfection.

Keywords : schistosomiasis mansoni; follow-up study; thirty years; Minas Gerais; Brazil.