This project will use data from an ongoing study in rural villages in Uganda where Schistosoma mansoni is endemic. Ethical approvals have been obtained. It is expected that this data will be collected prior to the start of this DPhil project. This DPhil analysis will focus on a random sample of approximately 1600 households from 39 villages. To measure infection status/intensity, one child (aged 5+ years) and one adult (aged 18+ years) will be sampled from each study household (3120 individuals). Household surveys will be used to collect information on socioeconomic status, and water, sanitation, and hygiene access/behaviours.

To directly observe water contact patterns at the village level, an observational study will be conducted, whereby trained water site observers will record information on every person entering pre-identified lake sites (including the time of day, duration, and activity). Contact sites will be observed for 1-2 weeks.

Aims

Establish a systematic framework for identifying exposures
Construct and validate exposure and contamination indices
Build transmission models to understand the association of WASH exposures with infection prevalence and intensity at the individual, household, and community levels

The student will gain skills in literature review, study design, primary data collection, transmission modelling, statistical programming, data cleaning, and research presentation. Training in schistosomiasis epidemiology and infection modelling will be provided.