Ecology of Disease Flashcards
What would be considered a negligent response to infectious disease?
Treatment of symptoms or disease without trying to break the cycle of reinfection
How is schistosomiasis contracted?
Eggs from adult worms are eliminated in feces. Eggs get into water by open defecation in or near water or as runoff from agricultural use of fertilizer. Eggs hatch and infect specific snails. The snails release the infective form of the disease in water which is then dermally absorbed by a person exposed to the water.
What are some barriers to controlling schistosomiasis?
Lack of modern detection techniques
Models that do not consider uncertainty, bias and other charateristics such as spatial and climate changes.
Lack of sustainable interventions that can be easily implemented
Describe one sustainable schistosomiasis control mechanism that is being tested in China.
Anaerobic digesters offer co-benefits by providing sanitation, mitigation of helminths and the generation of gas for use indoors, for example, with cooking. The anaerobic conditions of sewage digestion kill >99% of helminth ova and the process generates gas that can be pumped in house.
