Abstract:
Taenia solium taeniasis/cysticercosis is an important public health problem occurring mainly in developing
countries. This work aimed to study the determinants of human T. solium infections in the Eastern province of Zambia
and rank them in order of importance. A household (HH)-level questionnaire was administered to 680 HHs from 53 villages
in two rural districts and the taeniasis and cysticercosis status determined. A classification tree model (CART) was
used to define the relative importance and interactions between different predictor variables in their effect on taeniasis
and cysticercosis. The Katete study area had a significantly higher taeniasis and cysticercosis prevalence than the Petauke
area. The CART analysis for Katete showed that the most important determinant for cysticercosis infections was the
number of HH inhabitants (6 to 10) and for taeniasis was the number of HH inhabitants > 6. The most important
determinant in Petauke for cysticercosis was the age of head of household > 32 years and for taeniasis it was
age < 55 years. The CART analysis showed that the most important determinant for both taeniasis and cysticercosis
infections was the number of HH inhabitants (6 to 10) in Katete district and age in Petauke. The results suggest that
control measures should target HHs with a high number of inhabitants and older individuals.
