Replication Data for: Epidemiology of Soil Transmitted Helminthiasis and Strongyloides stercoralis in remote rural villages of Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar: no change in two decades

Soil-transmitted helminthiasis carries the highest number of disability adjusted life years among all the neglected tropical diseases and disproportionately affects developing countries. There is a paucity of data on infection prevalence in remote, rural villages of Madagascar. This study describes the epidemiology of soil transmitted helminthiasis and strongyloidiasis in 12 rural villages surrounding Ranomafana National Park (Ifanadiana district) in southeastern Madagascar and compares prevalence rates of infections with previous data collected from 1990-1992. During the study, questionnaires and stool samples were collected from 574 subjects with a median age of 19 years old. The Kato-Katz method and the spontaneous sedimentation technique were used to examine stool samples for evidence of infection. Overall infection prevalence rates were 71.4% for Ascaris lumbricoides (95% CI: 67.7-75.1), 74.7% for Trichuris trichiura (95% CI: 71.1-78.2), 33.1% for hookworm (95% CI: 29.2-36.9) and 3.3% for Strongyloides stercoralis (95% CI: 1.84-4.77). Study participants who were older in age (OR=0.96; 95% CI: 0.95-0.99) and who had a high school education (OR= 0.17; 95% CI: 0.04-0.77) were less likely of being infected with one of the four studied parasites. Females were less likely of being infected with A. lumbricoides compared to males (OR=0.52; 95%CI: 0.33-0.82). Overall, the study found that more than 90% of the people living in rural regions near the Ranomafana Park have at least one Soil-transmitted helminth (STH), suggesting that the current preventative chemotherapy (PC) programs in place are not effective in these remote areas. Further assessment is needed to analyze the efficacy and sustainability of current PC guidelines in Madagascar.