Effect of schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminth infections on physical fitness of school children in côte d'ivoire

Background: schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis are important public health problems in sub-saharan africa causing malnutrition,anemia,and retardation of physical and cognitive development. however,the effect of these diseases on physical fitness remains to be determined. methodology: we investigated the relationship between schistosomiasis,soil-transmitted helminthiasis and physical performance of children,controlling for potential confounding of plasmodium spp. infections and environmental parameters (i.e.,ambient air temperature and humidity). a cross-sectional survey was carried out among 156 school children aged 7-15 years from côte d'ivoire. each child had two stool and two urine samples examined for helminth eggs by microscopy. additionally,children underwent a clinical examination,were tested for plasmodium spp. infection with a rapid diagnostic test,and performed a maximal multistage 20 m shuttle run test to assess their maximal oxygen uptake (vo2 max) as a proxy for physical fitness. principal findings: the prevalence of schistosoma haematobium,plasmodium spp.,schistosoma mansoni,hookworm and ascaris lumbricoides infections was 85.3%,71.2%,53.8%,13.5% and 1.3%,respectively. children with single,dual,triple,quadruple and quintuple species infections showed vo2 max of 52.7,53.1,52.2,52.6 and 55.6 ml kg-1 min-1,respectively. the vo2 max of children with no parasite infections was 53.5 ml kg-1 min-1. no statistically significant difference was detected between any groups. multivariable analysis revealed that vo2 max was influenced by sex (reference: female,coef. = 4.02,p<0.001) and age (years,coef. = -1.23,p<0.001),but not by helminth infection and intensity,plasmodium spp. infection,and environmental parameters. conclusion/significance: school-aged children in côte d'ivoire showed good physical fitness,irrespective of their helminth infection status. future studies on children's physical fitness in settings where helminthiasis and malaria co-exist should include pre- and post-intervention evaluations and the measurement of hemoglobin and hematocrit levels and nutritional parameters as potential co-factors to determine whether interventions further improve upon fitness. © 2011 müller et al.