{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,1]],"date-time":"2026-04-01T20:52:56Z","timestamp":1775076776159,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,5]],"date-time":"2026-01-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1767571200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/journals\/pages\/open_access\/funder_policies\/chorus\/standard_publication_model"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100014976","name":"LSTM","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["PO6407"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PO6407"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100014976","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002992","name":"Department for International Development","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002992","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003243","name":"Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["NV18-05-00345"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NV18-05-00345"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003243","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Charles University COOPERATIO"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Monitoring the impact of schistosomiasis mass drug administration (MDA) relies mainly on human sampling, which is resource intensive and raises ethical and logistical challenges. Xenomonitoring of intermediate host snails offers a non-invasive alternative; however, its utility for program evaluation in Ghana remains unexplored.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We conducted longitudinal snail sampling at 31 human\u2013water contact points along Weija Lake, Ghana, 1\u00a0month before and at five time points up to 18\u00a0months after two rounds of community-wide praziquantel MDA. Snails were identified morphologically, examined for cercarial shedding and assessed by species-specific cyclooxygenase 1 polymerase chain reaction for Schistosoma mansoni, Schistosoma haematobium and Schistosoma bovis. Prevalence changes were analysed using \u03c72 tests, pairwise comparisons with Bonferroni correction and logistic regression. Human stools and urine were collected at the same time points for parasitological analysis.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Of 2201 snails collected, 74.7% were Bulinus spp. and 25.3% were Biomphalaria spp. Human-specific Schistosoma infections decreased from 2.8% at baseline to 0.6% 2\u00a0months after the first MDA and 0.4% 6\u00a0months after the second MDA (p&amp;lt;0.05). Logistic regression analysis indicated significantly lower odds of infection at these time points compared with baseline. However, prevalence rebounded at intervening time points and mixed S. haematobium\u2013S. bovis infections were common. The prevalence pattern in humans mirrored that of snails.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This first Ghanaian study demonstrates the potential of snail xenomonitoring to detect temporal changes in transmission following community-wide MDA. While findings support its value as a complementary monitoring tool, methodological refinements and parallel human\u2013snail surveys are needed before program adoption.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1093\/trstmh\/traf141","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,20]],"date-time":"2025-12-20T12:56:00Z","timestamp":1766235360000},"page":"379-391","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Topic: Xenomonitoring of\n                    <i>Schistosoma<\/i>\n                    intermediate hosts for evaluating community-wide mass drug administration in Ghana: preliminary findings and lessons"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"120","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3305-223X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yvonne","family":"Ashong","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana Department of Parasitology, , Legon, Accra ,","place":["Ghana"]},{"name":"Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Department of Clinical Microbiology, , Kumasi ,","place":["Ghana"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0132-6961","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Enoch Mensah","family":"Boateng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague Department of Zoology and Fisheries, , 16500, Prague ,","place":["Czech Republic"]},{"name":"Institute of Medical Microbiology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague , Studni\u010dkova 7, 12800 Prague 2, Prague ,","place":["Czech Republic"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3881-9789","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Frank Twum","family":"Aboagye","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomedical and Public Health Research Unit, Water Research Institute, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research , Accra ,","place":["Ghana"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Freda Kwarteng","family":"Boampong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomedical and Public Health Research Unit, Water Research Institute, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research , Accra ,","place":["Ghana"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8639-974X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Samuel","family":"Armoo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomedical and Public Health Research Unit, Water Research Institute, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research , Accra ,","place":["Ghana"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9620-3408","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Linda Batsa","family":"Debrah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Department of Clinical Microbiology, , Kumasi ,","place":["Ghana"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alex Yaw","family":"Debrah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Department of Medical Diagnostics, , Kumasi ,","place":["Ghana"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3054-9494","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Irene","family":"Ayi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana Department of Parasitology, , Legon, Accra ,","place":["Ghana"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2191-842X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marta","family":"Chanova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Medical Microbiology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague , Studni\u010dkova 7, 12800 Prague 2, Prague ,","place":["Czech Republic"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0930-9314","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bonnie Lee","family":"Webster","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Natural History Museum Department of Science, , Cromwell Road, SW7\u00a05BD London ,","place":["UK"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8541-5015","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mike Yaw","family":"Osei-Atweneboana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of 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