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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Trop. Dis
Sec. Major Tropical Diseases
Volume 5 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fitd.2024.1412871
This article is part of the Research Topic Newer Initiatives in Detection, Drug Discovery and Therapeutic Management of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis View all 4 articles

Assessing the Prevalence of Schistosomiasis and Strongyloidiasis in a Tuberculosis Clinic: the TB-TROPIcare Study

Provisionally accepted
Camilla Genovese Camilla Genovese 1,2Marta Colaneri Marta Colaneri 1,3Simone Pagano Simone Pagano 1,2Marco Schiuma Marco Schiuma 1Lucia Galli Lucia Galli 1,2Federico Fama Federico Fama 1,2Spinello Antinori Spinello Antinori 1,2Andrea Gori Andrea Gori 1,2*Alessandro Torre Alessandro Torre 1
  • 1 Department of Infectious Disease, ASST Fatebenefratelli Sacco, Milan, Lombardy, Italy
  • 2 Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Luigi Sacco Hospital, Milan, Italy
  • 3 Centre for Multidisciplinary Research in Health Science (MACH), Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: In recent years, Europe has experienced a significant flux of migrants, often hailing from regions endemic for schistosomiasis and strongyloidiasis, diseases frequently overshadowed by tuberculosis (TB) in healthcare priorities. While TB remains a prevalent concern among this population, chronic schistosomiasis and strongyloidiasis are frequently neglected. Motivated by this observation, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of schistosomiasis and strongyloidiasis in patients attending our TB outpatient clinic. Methods: We conducted a retrospective, observational study spanning from June 2020 to January 2024, focusing on patients attending the TB outpatient clinic of Luigi Sacco Hospital of Milan, Italy. Serology tests were performed in patients with a history suggestive of exposure to either Schistosoma spp. or Strongyloides stercoralis. Results: Among the 228 patients included in the study, 84 (36.8%) individuals were born in Italy, one came from Spain, 80 (35.1%) from strongyloidiasis moderate or high endemic countries and 63 (27.6%) from areas endemic for schistosomiasis and strongyloidiasis. Of these patients, 160 (70.2%) were diagnosed with tuberculosis disease, while 68 (29.8%) had tuberculosis infection. The prevalence of schistosomiasis was 26.7%, while that of strongyloidiasis was 7.8%. Notably, 3 patients tested positive for both infections. Conclusion: Our study highlights the often-underestimated prevalence of schistosomiasis and strongyloidiasis among migrants accessing healthcare for TB, underscoring the importance of increased awareness and targeted screening within this population.

    Keywords: neglected tropical diseases, Tuberculosis, Helminthiases, Schistosomiasis, Strongyloidiasis, Prevalence

    Received: 05 Apr 2024; Accepted: 01 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Genovese, Colaneri, Pagano, Schiuma, Galli, Fama, Antinori, Gori and Torre. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Andrea Gori, Department of Infectious Disease, ASST Fatebenefratelli Sacco, Milan, 20157, Lombardy, Italy

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