ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the relationship between flood ing and the prevalence of schistosomiasis in the river beach area. Met hods The subjects were investigated on the ways of exposure, frequency and duratio n of water conta cted from May to November in 1999, and eggs of Schistosoma were examined bef ore and after flooding. Results Exposure to infested water for human being s in the area comprised productive, living and recreational contacts including 11 kinds of activities, and 53.55% of the subjects contacted infested w ater. The number of person, frequency and duration of water contacted in floodin g strongly increased; the infection rate and density among population stron gly increased after flooding. There was significant difference between the infec tion rate in exposure group and that in non-exposure group. Conclusions It can be inferred that flooding has increased water contacted and i nfection, therefore, health education should be strengthened to avoid or dec rease water contact.