UKZN to Launch Booklet on Female Genital Tract Bilharzia

BY: .

Gynaecologists at UKZN’s College of Health Sciences, in partnership with colleagues from Africa and the World Health Organization, will soon launch a booklet to assist doctors diagnose and manage female genital tract bilharzia.

Acting Head of UKZN’s Department of Gynaecology, Dr Motshedisi Sebitloane, said many women had internal damage caused by genital bilharzias but the majority of doctors did not know how to diagnose it.

‘Most of the 290 000 doctors and nurses in South Africa rely on blood in the  urine as a symptom of urinary schistosomiasis  and only a handful are aware of the genital disease and its effects. Blood in the urine has a sensitivity of up to 70% for urinary bilharzia but this test is not useful if the genitalia are affected.

‘Genital bilharzia can result in unscheduled bleeding, chronic pelvic pain and infertility, she said.

According to Sebitloane, by increasing knowledge and teaching every health worker in South Africa what to look for during gynaecological examinations, the problem could be controlled. 

Honorary Senior Lecturer at UKZN, Dr Eyrun Kjetland, said microscopic bilharzia parasites which lived in fresh water penetrated the skin upon contact. ‘Swimming or doing laundry in rivers, lakes and lagoons pose a high risk. The parasites can stay in the body for over 30 years and cause great damage.’

Kjetland said there was a theory that only children contracted bilharzia but research had shown people of all ages could be infected.

‘It is unacceptable that people are suffering from this disease and that children are still contracting it. Brazil and Egypt have successfully treated their populations for bilharzias - South Africa should do the same.’

Female bilharzias causes chronic pelvic pain, unscheduled bleeding and infertility while patients seem to be more prone to HIV or sexually transmitted infections.

Kjetland said studies had shown that as many as two million women in South Africa could be affected. ‘Unfortunately very few get treated because of poor knowledge and the lack of health services.

‘Doctors know about bilharzia, but few know the damage it can do to female genitals. The early stages are difficult to see with the untrained naked eye. During gynaecological examinations on women with bilharzia, it is often misdiagnosed as cancer or an STI. Even among health workers able to do the microscopic examination of the genitalia (colposcopy), few are able to recognise the disease,’ Kjetland said.  

Dr Pamela Sabina Mbabazi, of the World Health Organization: Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, said: ‘We are fighting against time to spread information about this disease. The longer we wait, the more people will be chronically infected.

‘Our aim therefore is to ensure this pocket booklet will be in every clinician’s office within two years.’

The booklet will be published next year.

 Nombuso Dlamini