Socioeconomic vulnerability associated with schistosomiasis in indigenous communities of southern Brazil
Abstract
Schistosomiasis, a snail-borne Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD), has been caused by trematode blood flukes of genus Schistosoma . Besides the presence of gastropod snail intermediate hosts, disease spreading has been associated with poor sanitation and low human development index, particularly in communities living in deprived areas. Although present in 19/27 (70.4%) Brazilian States, schistosomiasis in vulnerable communities of non-endemic areas, particularly in southern and southeastern regions, remains to be fully established. Accordingly, the present study aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence of anti- S. mansoni antibodies based on ELISA-IgM and ELISA-IgG tests and associated risk factors to seropositivity in 713 individuals living in six indigenous communities of southern ( n = 412) and four in southeastern ( n = 301) Brazil. Overall seropositivity (IgM and/or IgG) was 5.3% (38/713; 95% CI: 3.9–7.2%). It was observed that there was a prevalence of 5.8% (24/412; 95% CI: 4.0-8.5%) in the southern and of 4.7% (14/301; 95% CI: 2.8–7.7%) in the southeastern region, but with no statistical difference. Surprisingly, seropositive individuals presented more IgM (33/38; 86.8%) than IgG (10/38; 26.3%) reaction, suggesting recent infection. Drinking river water and open-pit fecal disposal represented the univariate associations, whereas the final logistic regression retained community location/characteristic as the associated variable. These findings suggest that schistosomiasis surveillance should persevere in low-endemic areas, particularly in indigenous communities as environmental sentinels of pathogen distribution.
Versions
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BibTeX
@article{sousa2026socioeconomic,
title = {{Socioeconomic vulnerability associated with schistosomiasis in indigenous communities of southern Brazil}},
author = {Jéssica Rayanne Vieira Araújo Sousa and Maria Cristina Carvalho do Espírito-Santo and Louise Bach Kmetiuk and Ruth Tamara Valencia-Portillo and Bruna Ramos dos Santos and Daniele Rodrigues and Suelen Teixeira de Faria Resende and Jhone Inácio Silveira and Ione da Silva Santos and Isabella Braghin Ferreira and Rogério Giuffrida and Suzana Angélica Zevallos Lescano and Alexander Welker Biondo and Maria Carmen Arroyo Sanchez and Vamilton Alvares Santarém},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-73746-7},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-73746-7},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Socioeconomic vulnerability associated with schistosomiasis in indigenous communities of southern Brazil
AU - Jéssica Rayanne Vieira Araújo Sousa
AU - Maria Cristina Carvalho do Espírito-Santo
AU - Louise Bach Kmetiuk
AU - Ruth Tamara Valencia-Portillo
AU - Bruna Ramos dos Santos
AU - Daniele Rodrigues
AU - Suelen Teixeira de Faria Resende
AU - Jhone Inácio Silveira
AU - Ione da Silva Santos
AU - Isabella Braghin Ferreira
AU - Rogério Giuffrida
AU - Suzana Angélica Zevallos Lescano
AU - Alexander Welker Biondo
AU - Maria Carmen Arroyo Sanchez
AU - Vamilton Alvares Santarém
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/05
JO - Scientific Reports
DO - 10.1038/s41598-026-73746-7
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-73746-7
AB - Schistosomiasis, a snail-borne Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD), has been caused by trematode blood flukes of genus Schistosoma . Besides the presence of gastropod snail intermediate hosts, disease spreading has been associated with poor sanitation and low human development index, particularly in communities living in deprived areas. Although present in 19/27 (70.4%) Brazilian States, schistosomiasis in vulnerable communities of non-endemic areas, particularly in southern and southeastern regions, remains to be fully established. Accordingly, the present study aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence of anti- S. mansoni antibodies based on ELISA-IgM and ELISA-IgG tests and associated risk factors to seropositivity in 713 individuals living in six indigenous communities of southern ( n = 412) and four in southeastern ( n = 301) Brazil. Overall seropositivity (IgM and/or IgG) was 5.3% (38/713; 95% CI: 3.9–7.2%). It was observed that there was a prevalence of 5.8% (24/412; 95% CI: 4.0-8.5%) in the southern and of 4.7% (14/301; 95% CI: 2.8–7.7%) in the southeastern region, but with no statistical difference. Surprisingly, seropositive individuals presented more IgM (33/38; 86.8%) than IgG (10/38; 26.3%) reaction, suggesting recent infection. Drinking river water and open-pit fecal disposal represented the univariate associations, whereas the final logistic regression retained community location/characteristic as the associated variable. These findings suggest that schistosomiasis surveillance should persevere in low-endemic areas, particularly in indigenous communities as environmental sentinels of pathogen distribution.
SN - 2045-2322
ER -