Situation on Schistosomiasis and Other Helminthiasis in the Catchment Area of Kwae Noi Bamroongdan Dam, Phitsanuloke Province, Thailand: 2005 - 2009

Abstract

         The water resource development, so called Kwae Noi Bamroongdan Dam, under the King Initiative project constructed by integrating a proper water management for domestic consumption and agricultural use all year round. However, WHO had strongly recommended guideline related to Environmental Impact Assessment and Health Impact Assessment which served as a national instrument to consider about related water-borne and the important helminthic diseases are schistosomiasis, liver fluke, lung fluke and intestinal fluke infection. Water bed will enrich the areas to be very fertile in providing suitable breeding ground for various aquatic lives such as snails, crabs and fishes. These animals could serve as intermediate hosts of helminthic flukes and some kind of round worm in man and animals and became public health threats. The objective of this synthesis study was to analyze the secondary data in a document are review on surveillance studies and surveys for helminthic infections in human, animal reservoirsary of adult blood fluke among Kwae Noi Bamroongdan Dam, Phitsanuloke province. It included 3 papers on the surveillance and control of parasitic diseases in Kwae Kwae Noi Bamroongdan Dam project reported by Helminthiasis section, Bureau of General Communicable Diseases, Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand during the period 2005 - 2009, employing descriptive statistic z-test and ANOVA in data analyse. It was concluded that the prevalence of helminthiasis in human host and intermediates host (crab, fish and snail) decreased and schistosomiasis was not found among any of the hosts. It is very important to note that it could not find any human intermediate host namely, Neotricula aperta snails in that certain study area. The results also revealed that hookworm and Opisthorchis viverrini which were the endemic parasites in human still prevailed resulting in a high infection rate among people. Likewise hookworm and Ascaris spp.were reported in dogs and cats and became a health threat to human. As such, helminthiasis prevention and control strategies were important and necessary at the Kwae Noi Bamroongdan Dam and should be integrated with immunological diagnosis to detect Schitosoma mekongi in human serum in order to confirm that there is no tragic transmission of schistosomiasis in this Kwae Noi Bamroongdan Dam catchment area.

Key words: Helminthiasis Situation, Surveillance, Schistosomiasis, Opisthorchiasis, Hookworm