Home›Primary Care & Family Medicine› Schistosomiasis preventive chemotherapy reporting shows 61.7% coverage in school-age children versus 14.6% in adults
Schistosomiasis preventive chemotherapy reporting shows 61.7% coverage in school-age children versus 14.6% in adultsGlobal Data Shows Reporting Gaps in Schistosomiasis Treatment Coverage
Frontiers in MedicinePublished October 28, 2026Study authors: Xinrui XuDOI ↗Editorial oversight: Dr. Sofia Müller, MD · Lifespan & Whole-Person Care
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This publication is a guideline-related analysis of schistosomiasis preventive-chemotherapy coverage indicators, using 567 country-year records from 52 countries. It compares reported coverage between school-age children (SAC) and adults.
Reported coverage was substantially higher for SAC than for adults: 61.7% of SAC (83,126,427 of 134,806,681) were reported treated, compared with 14.6% of adults (17,368,705 of 118,864,858). Reporting completeness also differed: for SAC, the reporting-denominator share was 85.2% and conditional reported coverage was 72.3%; for adults, these were 47.7% and 30.6%, respectively.
The authors note several limitations. Preschool-age treatment was not separately observable. The data do not identify verified uptake, individual equity, or causal guideline effects. Low reporting-denominator share cannot distinguish programme scope from incomplete reporting. The actual ordering of treatment coverage between adults and SAC could not be identified due to logical missing-report envelopes.
No safety data were reported. These findings identify gaps in reporting visibility for different age groups in schistosomiasis programs, but they do not confirm actual treatment uptake or establish a causal link between the 2022 WHO guideline and reported coverage.
How this fits prior evidence
Prior coverage has focused on schistosomiasis diagnostics and co-infection risk, including AI tools for Schistosoma haematobium detection and the association between schistosomiasis and malaria co-infection in children. This analysis extends that focus to programme reporting, showing that reported preventive-chemotherapy coverage was 61.7% in school-age children versus 14.6% in adults across 52 countries. It addresses a gap in reporting visibility by age group, but, like earlier diagnostic reviews, it does not provide verified individual-level uptake or causal inference.
A global review of 52 countries analyzed reporting data for schistosomiasispreventive chemotherapy. The study looked at how well programs reported treatment coverage for two main groups: school-aged children and adults. The data came from 567 country-year records to identify gaps in how these programs are tracked.
The findings showed a large difference in reporting. For school-aged children, 61.7% were reported as treated. In contrast, only 14.6% of adults were reported as treated. The study also looked at the quality of these reports. School-aged children had a higher reporting-denominator share of 85.2%, while adults had a much lower share of 47.7%.
It is important to note that these numbers reflect what was reported in official records, not necessarily the actual number of people who received medicine. The data cannot confirm if the treatment was actually delivered equally or if the low numbers for adults are due to poor reporting. This information helps health officials see where more consistent reporting is needed for different age groups.
What this means for you:
Reporting for school-aged children is much higher than for adults in global schistosomiasis programs.
Common questions
What is the difference in reported treatment for children and adults?
The data shows a large difference in reported coverage. For school-aged children, 61.7% were reported as treated. For adults, the reported coverage was much lower at 14.6%.
Does this mean fewer adults are actually getting treated?
The study cannot confirm if fewer adults are actually getting treatment. The data only shows what was reported in official records. It cannot tell us if the low numbers for adults are due to fewer people being treated or simply less information being reported.
How many countries were included in this data?
The data included 567 country-year records from a total of 52 different countries to look at how schistosomiasis programs report their treatment numbers.
Age-inclusive schistosomiasis policy requires monitoring that distinguishes between eligible age groups. The 2022 World Health Organization (WHO) guideline recommended treatment from 2 years of age in qualifying communities. We examined what public reporting makes visible for adults and school-age children (SAC), distinguishing information availability from programme scope and treatment receipt.
We analysed all 567 country-year records from 52 countries during the 2014–2024 window in a frozen WHO schistosomiasis Preventive Chemotherapy and Transmission Control databank snapshot. Counts of adults requiring treatment and adults reported as treated were derived using a source-specific contract for interpreting age fields. Population-weighted adult and SAC reported-coverage indicators were each decomposed into a reporting-denominator share and conditional reported coverage. We audited missingness states, count anomalies, and prespecified exclusions and assessed fixed-country support and leave-one-country-out influence. No causal effect of the guideline was estimated.
In 2024, 83,126,427 of 134,806,681 SAC were reported treated (61.7%), compared with 17,368,705 of 118,864,858 adults (14.6%). The SAC indicator combined an 85.2% reporting-denominator share with 72.3% conditional reported coverage; the corresponding adult components were 47.7 and 30.6%. Of the adults represented in the denominator, 34.3% appeared in SAC-only records, potentially reflecting programme scope, and 18.0% in records without an age label. The adult indicator was lower in every year and in every sensitivity analysis. However, programme expectations were not the same throughout the study period: 2014–2021 preceded the broader guideline, whereas 2022–2024 represented the early calendar years following or coinciding with its publication. Logical missing-report envelopes placed the 2024 adult-minus-SAC difference between −61.8 and +5.3 percentage points, leaving the actual ordering of treatment coverage between adults and SAC unidentified.
The reported adult–SAC difference combines the availability of valid age-specific treatment information with the treatment reported within supported records. A low reporting-denominator share cannot distinguish programme scope from incomplete reporting. Preschool-age treatment was not separately observable. Age-inclusive monitoring requires explicit age categories and documented eligibility and reporting states; these data do not identify verified uptake, individual equity, or causal guideline effects.
