Resistance evaluation and surveillance initiative for schistosomiasis treatment: study protocol for the RESIST project
BMC Infectious Diseases·
- DOI
- 10.1186/s12879-025-12474-1
- PMID
- 41507817
- PMCID
- PMC12874852
- OpenAlex
- W7118480277
- Study type
- Cross-sectional study
- Publisher
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Why this research matters now
The project is positioned as foundational work for population-based surveillance of praziquantel resistance in Schistosoma, with relevance to monitoring and mitigating persistent hotspots and to novel drugs in development.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
The RESIST project aims to determine whether mass drug administration with praziquantel in Zanzibar has selected for genetic signatures of reduced efficacy or resistance in Schistosoma haematobium, and how such signatures relate to persistent transmission hotspots.
Study design
An observational, multi-component study protocol running from 2024 to 2027, combining cross-sectional and longitudinal parasitological surveys with genome-wide analyses of miracidia and mathematical modelling, registered as a trial (ISRCTN59331501).
Population and setting
School-aged students in Pemba (Zanzibar), with approximately 14,400 students across 15 schools in cross-sectional surveys and about 945 students across two schools in longitudinal sampling.
Main findings
No empirical findings are reported; the abstract describes planned assessments of S. haematobium prevalence/intensity, egg reduction rates following MDA, and spatiotemporal parasite genetic variation, including archived specimens from 2012 and 2017.
Public-health relevance
The project is positioned as foundational work for population-based surveillance of praziquantel resistance in Schistosoma, with relevance to monitoring and mitigating persistent hotspots and to novel drugs in development.
Important limitations
The summary is limited to the supplied single-article abstract/metadata, which describes a study protocol rather than results; the original paper is required for decision-grade interpretation, and the country classifier links list Moldova rather than Zanzibar, which may reflect a metadata inconsistency.
GIDS interpretation
This protocol addresses discoverability of potential praziquantel resistance signals in S. haematobium by linking genomic surveillance with field outcomes; it should not be interpreted as confirmation of any live surveillance signal.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 7 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.