Prevalence of <i>Schistosoma Haematobium</i> infection among primary school children aged years in Auyo Town, Auyo local government area, Jigawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

The Fulani tribe of Northern Nigeria brought Schistosomiasis with them during their migration from the Upper Nile Basin. The disease, therefore, has a long history in Nigeria. It is essentially an infection of rural agricultural communities where rural lifestyle and behavior encourage the contamination of inland water with human excreta and urine. Until recently, Schistosomiasis was not considered a public health problem in Nigeria for two reasons. Firstly, Schistosomiasis was restricting to rural communities where hygiene is inadequate, where poverty prevails, where malnutrition and infection with other parasites are common. Secondly, it is a disease common to school-aged children in whom the disease remains silent or mildly asymptomatic for many years. The world health organization (WHO) regards the disease as neglected tropical diseases, with an estimated 732 million person being vulnerable to infection worldwide on renowned transmission areas reported that immunodiagnostic method is most effective, Steinman and co-workers documented that over 200 million individuals from Africa, Asia, and South America are infected with the disease. The disease Schistosomiasis thus can be controlled by eradicating the intermediate host and the use of Praziquantel and chemotherapy application. The prevalence of urinary Schistosomiasis was highest in the age group of 12-13 years. This may be since children in this age bracket were frequently involved in activities that bring them in contact with the sources of infection such as contact with intermediate host snails, bathing in contaminated water among others.