Novel intervention strategies for schistosomiasis elimination in Zanzibar
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN91431493 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN91431493 |
| ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT) | Nil known |
| Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS) | Nil known |
| Protocol serial number | 21.01.2020 (Version 2.1) |
| Sponsor | Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute |
| Funder | Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung |
- Submission date
- 21/01/2020
- Registration date
- 11/02/2020
- Last edited
- 01/10/2025
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Infections and Infestations
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
Urogenital schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by flatworms such as Schistosoma haematobium that are released by freshwater snails. In line with the goals set by the World Health Organization for 2020 and 2030, the Zanzibar government is committed to eliminate urogenital schistosomiasis as a public health problem and to interrupt Schistosoma haematobium transmission from Zanzibar in the next years. Intensified mass drug administration (MDA) with biannual community-wide and school-based treatments started in 2012, and was complemented with additional interventions (snail control and behaviour change) within a trial conducted from 2012 to 2017. During this trial, several challenges on the last mile towards schistosomiasis elimination were identified. This study will address some of the identified challenges, including persistent hotspots of transmission, recurrence of infection, and diagnostics, and investigate new tools and strategies for breaking schistosomiasis transmission.
The main aim of the study is to test the sensitivity of an adaptive surveillance-response system for its ability to detect S. haematobium infected individuals in low-risk areas to trigger an appropriate intervention response to avoid recurrence of infection.
The other aims are to reveal the performance of the surveillance-response system in terms of overall feasibility, timeliness, and acceptability. Moreover, the impact of intervention packages in hotspots and low-risk areas will be measured, the treatment coverage of (focal) MDA or test-and-treat in infected and healthy individuals will be assessed, and the performance of the diagnostic approaches used will be assessed.
Who can participate?
The study will be implemented in the North of Pemba island for 3.5 years. A cross-sectional baseline and three annual follow-up surveys will be conducted in schools and communities from 2020 to 2023. Schoolchildren, male and female, from nursery till grade 7 will be invited to participate in the school-based surveys. Participants of all sexes aged 4 years and older will be eligible to participate in the community-based surveys. Moreover, all community members aged 4 years and older will be eligible to be tested for S. haematobium infection during the surveillance activities implemented throughout the study years in low-risk shehias.
What does the study involve?
Participants will be tested for S. haematobium infection and blood in their urine. Participants will be invited to answer a questionnaire about their past anti-schistosomal treatments and behaviours that might put them on risk for infection. Based on the S. haematobium infection prevalence determined in the annual cross-sectional surveys, study areas will be stratified in hotspots and low-risk areas. Hotspots will receive a combination of periodic MDA, snail control and behavior change interventions. Low-risk areas will receive targeted surveillance-response interventions, consisting of test-and-treat of high-risk groups, snail control in water bodies used by infected individuals, and health education of infected individuals.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
The direct benefit from participation in the study is that participants will be informed about their S. haematobium infection status and will receive treatment with praziquantel if positive. The treatment can improve the general health status, including less pain, fatigue and weakness and thus improved school or working performance. Moreover, participating schools and shehia communities will benefit from the behaviour change interventions, including the implementation of laundry platforms and improved education about schistosomiasis prevention and transmission. Participating shehia communities will also benefit from snail control, which reduces the risk of S. haematobium transmission in the natural open water bodies of the targeted shehias.
For the participants, no risks are involved in producing a fresh urine sample. The questionnaires will include some questions that might be embarrassing, discomforting or too personal; however, participants can deny responding to these questions when they decide to participate.
Where is the study run from?
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland and Public Health Laboratory-Ivo de Carneri, Pemba, Tanzania
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
September 2019 to June 2024
Who is funding the study?
Swiss National Science Foundation (Switzerland)
Who is the main contact?
Dr Stefanie Knopp
s.knopp@swisstph.ch
Contact information
Scientific
Socinstrasse 57
Basel
4002
Switzerland
 ORCID ID |
0000-0001-5707-7963 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +41 (0)61 2848 727 |
| s.knopp@swisstph.ch |
Study information
| Primary study design | Interventional |
|---|---|
| Study design | Interventional surveillance study complemented by repeated cross-sectional surveys |
| Secondary study design | Non randomised study |
| Study type | Participant information sheet |
| Scientific title | The last mile: novel tools and strategies for breaking schistosomiasis transmission |
| Study acronym | Schistobreak |
| Study objectives | The study does not test a null hypothesis because the primary analysis will estimate a population parameter. The parameter of interest is the sensitivity of the risk-based surveillance system. The sensitivity (and corresponding confidence intervals) is estimated as: SE = number of infected persons detected by the surveillance system / total number of infected persons whereby the total number of infected persons is calculated from the cross-sectional surveys as: N_inf = Prevalence_school * N_pop-school + Prevalence_non-school * N_pop-non-school |
| Ethics approval(s) | 1. Approved 23/10/2019, Ethics Committee Northwest and Central Switzerland (EKNZ) (Hebelstrasse 53, 4056 Basel, Switzerland; Tel:+41 (0)61 2681350; Email: eknz@bs.ch), ref: Project-ID: Req-2019-00951 2. Approved 13/12/2019, Zanzibar Health Research Ethical Committee (ZAHREC) (Ministry of Health Zanzibar, PO Box 236, Vuga Zanzibar; Tel: +255 (0)772 605560; Email: info@zahri.org), ref: NO.ZAHREC/03/PR/DEC/2019/12 |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Schistosoma haematobium infection |
| Intervention | The S. haematobium prevalence will be determined annually in cross-sectional surveys conducted in schools and communities of the study area. The baseline survey will be conducted in 2020, and follow-up surveys in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Depending on the S. haematobium prevalence, the study areas (shehias) will be stratified into hotspot or low-risk shehias and receive interventions accordingly for the year following the cross-sectional survey. Inhabitants of hotspot shehias will receive mass drug administration (MDA) with praziquantel (40 mg/kg) as part of the routine interventions of the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Programme of the Zanzibar Ministry of Health (MoH) distributing praziquantel at least annually to the whole population of Zanzibar. Moreover, snail control using the molluscicide niclosamide will be carried out regularly in all natural waterbodies containing the intermediate host snails throughout the study years with the exception of the rainy season. Snail control will be carried out by experienced and trained research teams. Finally, behaviour change interventions containing interactive education in schools and communities using a pretested toolkit and safe laundry platforms will be implemented throughout the study years. Behaviour change activities will be carried out by experienced and trained research teams. Inhabitants of low-risk shehias will not receive MDA. Here surveillance-response interventions will be carried out throughout the study years. Surveillance of high-risk groups will be done by a test-and-treat approach. Individuals infected with S. haematobium will receive a single dose of praziquantel (40 mg/kg) by staff of the research teams in collaboration with the Zanzibar NTD Programme. Additional response interventions will include snail control in infested water bodies of low-risk shehias and education of infected individuals on how to prevent S. haematobium transmission and infection. |
| Intervention type | Mixed |
| Primary outcome measure(s) |
The number of S. haematobium infected individuals detected and reported through the surveillance system divided by the number of positive individuals in the population as extrapolated from the cross-sectional surveys, i.e. the mean sensitivity of the surveillance-response system determined over 3 years. S. haematobium infections will be determined by the urine filtration method (detecting S. haematobium eggs in 10 ml urine) and reagent strip method (Hemastix; detecting microhaemturia in urine) applied on a single urine per participant in annual cross-sectional surveys (i.e. at baseline in 2020 and follow-up surveys in 2021, 2022, and 2023). For surveillance of high-risk groups the researchers will use the reagent strip method as a rapid test indicator for S. haematobium infections throughout the study years (2020 till 2023). |
| Key secondary outcome measure(s) |
1. Performance parameters of the surveillance system: |
| Completion date | 30/06/2024 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | All |
|---|---|
| Age group | Mixed |
| Lower age limit | 3 Years |
| Sex | All |
| Target sample size at registration | 27880 |
| Key inclusion criteria | 1. All persons aged >3 years, living in the study shehias 2. Submitted informed consent form (ICF) signed by parent or legal guardian in case of participating children and adolescents, or signed by the participant in case of participating adults 3. One urine sample with sufficient volume to perform diagnostic tests provided |
| Key exclusion criteria | 1. Children ≤3 years 2. Children, adolescents and adults not living in the study area 3. ICF not submitted or not signed by parent or legal guardian in case of participating children or adolescents or not signed by the participant in case of participating adults 4. No urine sample of sufficient volume to perform diagnostic tests provided |
| Date of first enrolment | 15/05/2020 |
| Date of final enrolment | 30/06/2024 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- Tanzania
Study participating centre
Chakechake
-
Tanzania
Results and Publications
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | No |
|---|---|
| IPD sharing plan summary | Data sharing statement to be made available at a later date |
| IPD sharing plan | The data sharing plans for the current study are unknown and will be made available at a later date. |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results article | 02/07/2024 | 03/07/2024 | Yes | No | |
| Results article | 02/06/2025 | 05/06/2025 | Yes | No | |
| Results article | 30/09/2025 | 01/10/2025 | Yes | No | |
| Protocol article | 30/09/2021 | 30/08/2022 | Yes | No | |
| Other publications | Evaluation of tablet-based fine-scale mapping approach | 15/01/2022 | 17/01/2022 | Yes | No |
| Other publications | Baseline parasite infection prevalence and intermediate host abundance | 16/08/2022 | 30/08/2022 | Yes | No |
| Other publications | 13/11/2024 | 20/11/2024 | Yes | No | |
| Other publications | 26/11/2024 | 28/11/2024 | Yes | No | |
| Participant information sheet | Participant information sheet | 11/11/2025 | 11/11/2025 | No | Yes |
Editorial Notes
01/10/2025: Publication reference added.
05/06/2025: Publication reference added.
28/11/2024: Publication reference added.
20/11/2024: Publication reference added.
03/07/2024: Publication reference added.
14/08/2023: School was added as a study setting.
16/06/2023: The following changes have been made and the plain English summary updated accordingly:
1. The recruitment end date has been changed from 30/06/2023 to 30/06/2024.
2. The overall study end date has been changed from 30/06/2023 to 30/06/2024.
3. The intention to publish date has been changed from 30/08/2024 to 30/06/2025.
30/08/2022: Publication references added.
17/01/2022: Publication reference added.
27/01/2020: Trial's existence confirmed by Ethics Committee Northwest and Central Switzerland (EKNZ), Zanzibar Health Research Ethical Committee (ZAHREC) and Swiss National Science Foundation.
