Current water contact and Schistosoma mansoni infection have distinct determinants: a data-driven population-based study in rural Uganda.

ABSTRACT: Water contact is a key element of the system of human-environment interactions that determine individual exposure to schistosome parasites and, in turn, community transmission. Yet, there is a limited understanding of the complexity of water contact. We characterised patterns and determinants of water contact within the large-scale SchistoTrack study on 2867 individuals aged 5-90 years in Eastern and Western Uganda, employing Bayesian variable selection and advanced statistical modelling. We found a 15-year gap between the population-level peak in water contact (age 30) and infection (age 15) with practically no correlation (ρ = 0.03) between individual-level water contact and infection. Adults had higher water contact than children, and 80% of individuals with water contact lived within 0

SUBMITTER: Reitzug F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11549081 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature