Prevalence of Schistosoma mansoni – Salmonella co-infection among patients in southern Ethiopia

Abstract Background The concurrent infection by Schistosoma mansoni and Salmonella species are not uncommon in the endemic area of Sub-Saharan Africa, however its prevalence may have regional variations. This co-infection and associated factors are not investigated and discussed so far, to the best of our knowledge, in an Ethiopian context. Therefore this study is intended to assess the prevalence of S. mansoni and Salmonella co-infections among patients attending the Jinka General Hospital and the Jinka Millennium Health Center, Jinka, southern Ethiopia. Methods A facility-based cross-sectional study was carried out between 1st October and 30th November 2019. Totally, 271 participants with gastro-intestinal complaints were selected through a systematic sampling technique. Socio-demographic data and other relevant factors were collected using a questionnaire. Stool and venous blood samples respectively were collected using standard methods for the detection of S. mansoni and Salmonella. S. mansoni was detected using direct microscopy and formol-ether concentration techniques whereas Salmonella was identified by using conventional culture methods and the Widal test. Antibiotic susceptibility test for Salmonella isolates was performed as per the Kirby-Bauer discs diffusion technique. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences Software (SPSS) version 20. p-value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results The prevalence rates of S. mansoni and Salmonella infections were 17.30% and 7.70% respectively. The prevalence of S. mansoni – Salmonella co-infection was 7.7%. Of the different factors analyzed, in connection with the co-infection, gender (males) [AOR: 2.50 (95% CI: 1.10 – 4.62), p 0.01], age (especially, juveniles between 5 to 15 years) [AOR: 3.19 (95% CI: 1.10– 9.20), p 0.008], and frequency of exposure to contaminated water bodies [AOR: 2.78 (95% CI: 0.81 –9.68), p 0.001] were found to be statistically significant. Most of the Salmonella isolates showed resistance to ampicillin, tetracycline and cotrimoxazole. Conclusion Overall results imply that S. mansoni – Salmonella co-infections pose a grave health problem in the study area, especially among children. Therefore, conclusions derived from this study can be used by the medical fraternity to frame and implement intervention strategies for the management of S. mansoni – Salmonella co-infections.