02434nas a2200361   4500000000100000008004100001653003900042653002000081653001400101653001200115653001700127653003100144653001000175653001600185653001200201653001100213100001200224700001200236700001300248700001300261700001300274700001300287700001300300700001300313700001200326700001400338700001300352245014700365856004600512300000800558490000600566520150000572       2018                            d10aNeglected tropical diseases (NTDs)10aschistosomiasis10aKato-Katz10aPOC-CCA10aYoung adults10aSoil-transmitted helminths10aKenya10aElimination10aControl10aSchool1 aKorir H1 aRiner D1 aKavere E1 aOmondi A1 aLandry J1 aKittur N1 aNdombi E1 aOndigo B1 aSecor W1 aKaranja D1 aColley D00aYoung adults in endemic areas: An untreated group in need of school-based preventive chemotherapy for schistosomiasis control and elimination.  uhttp://www.mdpi.com/2414-6366/3/3/100/pdf  a1000 v33 a<p>Parasitologic surveys of young adults in college and university settings are not commonly done, even in areas known to be endemic for schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminths. We have done a survey of 291 students and staff at the Kisumu National Polytechnic in Kisumu, Kenya, using the stool microscopy Kato-Katz (KK) method and the urine point-of-care circulating cathodic antigen (POC-CCA) test. Based on three stools/two KK slides each, in the 208 participants for whom three consecutive stools were obtained, Schistosoma mansoni prevalence was 17.8%. When all 291 individuals were analyzed based on the first stool, as done by the national neglected tropical disease (NTD) program, and one urine POC-CCA assay (n = 276), the prevalence was 13.7% by KK and 23.2% by POC-CCA. Based on three stools, 2.5% of 208 participants had heavy S. mansoni infections (400 eggs/gram feces), with heavy S. mansoni infections making up 13.5% of the S. mansoni cases. The prevalence of the soil-transmitted helminths (STH: Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and hookworm) by three stools was 1.4%, 3.1%, and 4.1%, respectively, and by the first stool was 1.4%, 2.4% and 1.4%, respectively. This prevalence and intensity of infection with S. mansoni in a college setting warrants mass drug administration with praziquantel. This population of young adults is ‘in school’ and is both approachable and worthy of inclusion in national schistosomiasis control and elimination programs.</p>