The Prevalence Study of Urinary Schistosomiasis among the Primary School Pupils in Kisayhip, Bassa Local Government Area, Plateau State-Nigeria

Abstract

Schistosomiasis is a chronic disease caused by parasitic flat worms also known as trematodes, which belongs to the genus Schistosoma. Schistosomiasis is considered to be the third most acute tropical illnesses globally, after malaria and helminthiasis as it is a main origin of morbidity and mortality, highly prevalent among school children, adolescents and young adults. The study was aimed to determine the prevalence of schistosomiasis of the urine and intestine in primary school pupils in Kisayhip, Bassa local Government Area of Plateau State. This study was conducted in five primary schools in Kisayhip, Bassa Local Government Area, Plateau State. A total of 230 children who were within the age 5-14years participated in the study. The schools and participating subjects were selected randomly provided they met the inclusion criteria. Fresh urine samples were collected between 10am-2pm, twice a week. The samples were examined macroscopically and microscopically to determine physical characteristics and parasite presence respectively. The result showed that prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis in A, B, C, D and E schools in Bassa Local government area were 6.00%, 4.00%, 8.00 and 4.00% respectively. There was no significant difference in the prevalence among the participating schools, P-value>0.05. There was also no significant difference was recorded in gender based comparison, P-value>0.05. There was no significant difference in the prevalence with respect to various age distributions. The study has revealed that though schistosomiasis was present in the area, the prevalence of the infection was very low and below WHO threshold.