Northeast Thailand: New approaches for avoiding water related liver cancer

摘要

Water-borne diseases are major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. These include parasitic diseases caused by trematodes. Among these, opisthorchiasis caused by the liver fluke Opisthorchis viverrini and its associated bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma) are responsible for thousands of deaths every year in northeast Thailand. A number of novel approaches to controlling or eliminating 0. viverrini infection in humans are examined. These include the application of appropriate hygienic measures, especially those aimed at sterilizing human excreta, which will not only reduce or stop the transmission of 0. viverrini, but will also play a major role in reducing the incidence of a wide variety of other pathogens infectious to humans which are transmitted via the fecal-oral route. In addition, sophisticated modelling approaches to determine epidemiological/ecological information on intermediate hosts as well as for assessing control strategies should take their place in determining the optimum configuration of integrated control methods.