Prevalence of Urinary Schistosomiasis among Primary School Children in Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis among primary school children of 5-15 years old in Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. Out of five hundred (500) pupils that were randomly selected for the study, 236 pupils were males and 264 were females. The samples collected for the study were urine. The samples were analyzed in the laboratory using sedimentation/centrifugation technique. The prevalence of infection of S. haematobium in the area was 49 (9.8%); out of which 33 (14.0%) cases were recorded for males and 16 (6.1%) was recorded for females. The prevalence of the infection in the study area was moderate. The highest prevalent rate of S. haematobium infection was observed in age bracket 8-10 years (14.5%), whereas 5- 7 years had the lowest prevalent rate of 5.8%. No case of infection was found the pupils using borehole water. Two (2) and 10 cases of infection were found among the pupils using well, and pond water respectively, giving the prevalence of 2.0% and 16.7%, respectively. Thirty-seven (37) cases of infection were found among the pupils using stream water with the prevalence o f 18.5% to control urinary schistosomiasis, it is therefore recommended that Schistosomiasis Control Program in the state should be geared towards creating awareness in the people in order to reduce the infection rate.