03016nas a2200277   4500000000100000008004100001653001700042653001200059653001200071653001700083653002200100653003900122653002800161653002400189653002000213653001100233100001400244700001500258700001800273245008400291856007700375300000700452490000600459520225900465022001402724       2018                            d10aBiomphalaria10aBulinus10aEcology10aEpidemiology10aLiterature Review10aNeglected tropical diseases (NTDs)10aSchistosoma haematobium10aSchistosoma mansoni10aschistosomiasis10aZambia1 aKalinda C1 aChimbari M1 aMukaratirwa S00aSchistosomiasis in Zambia: a systematic review of past and present experiences.  uhttps://idpjournal.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s40249-018-0424-5  a410 v73 a<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>The speedy rate of change in the environmental and socio-economics factors may increase the incidence, prevalence and risk of schistosomiasis infections in Zambia. However, available information does not provide a comprehensive understanding of the biogeography and distribution of the disease, ecology and population dynamics of intermediate host snails. The current study used an information-theoretical approach to understand the biogeography and prevalence schistosomiasis and identified knowledge gaps that would be useful to improve policy towards surveillance and eradication of intermediate hosts snails in Zambia.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>To summarise the existing knowledge and build on past and present experiences of schistosomiasis epidemiology for effective disease control in Zambia, a systematic search of literature for the period 2000-2017 was done on PubMed, Google Scholar and EBSCOhost. Using the key words: 'Schistosomiasis', 'Biomphalaria', 'Bulinus', 'Schistosoma mansoni', 'Schistosoma haematobium', and 'Zambia', in combination with Booleans terms 'AND' and 'OR', published reports/papers were obtained and reviewed independently for inclusion.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>Thirteen papers published in English that fulfilled the inclusion criteria were selected for the final review. The papers suggest that the risk of infection has increased over the years and this has been attributed to environmental, socio-economic and demographic factors. Furthermore, schistosomiasis is endemic in many parts of the country with infection due to Schistosoma haematobium being more prevalent than that due to S. mansoni. This review also found that S. haematobium was linked to genital lesions, thus increasing risks of&nbsp;contracting other diseases such as HIV and cervical cancer.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>For both S. haematobium and S. mansoni, environmental, socio-economic, and demographic factors were influential in the transmission and prevalence of the disease and highlight the need for detailed knowledge on ecological modelling and mapping the distribution of the disease and intermediate host snails for effective implementation of control strategies.</p>
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