Prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis among community primary school pupils in Amagunze, Enugu State, Nigeria

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis among pupils (aged 6- 13 years) of Community Primary School, Amagunze in Nkanu East LGA, Enugu State, Nigeria. A total of two hundred (200) urine samples were randomly collected from the pupils (87 males and 113 females). The urine samples were collected in the month of August, 2013 into sterile urine containers and were examined microscopically in the laboratory using string sedimentation technique. Hematuria was assessed using chemical reagent strip (medi-test combi-9 sticks). The overall prevalence of Schistosoma haematobium infection was 11 (5.5%); with 7 (8.0%) cases for males and 4 (3.5%) for females but the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Prevalence rate was also observed to be higher among age group of 10-13 years with 4 (6.5%) compared to age group of 6-9 years with7 (5.1%), but the differences were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). There was a statistically significant difference (P ˂ 0.05) between the pupils who were positive for schistosomiasis (11) and those who presented with hematuria (21). However, there was no close association between hematuria and the presence of eggs of S. haematobium in the urine. Hematuria gave a sensitivity of 64% and a specificity of 93% when compared to microscopy. The results of the findings show that the disease is endemic in the area under study. It is thus, recommended that control programs be organized in the state that would be geared towards creating awareness amongst the people and reducing the rate of infection. (Ezeadila JO, Okoli I, Agomuo M, Aneke FC, and Egbuche CM. Prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis among community primary school pupils in Amagunze, Enugu State, Nigeria. World Rural Observ 2015;7(3):46-51). ISSN: 1944-6543 (Print); ISSN: 1944-6551 (Online). http://www.sciencepub.net/rural. 9