Studies on vesical schistosomiasis in Abia state Nigeria: Rapid assessment survey (RAS) using school children as tracers

Abstract

A survey of vesical schistosomiasis in 17 Local government areas of Abia State, South Eastern Nigeria was carried out between March 2001 and August 2002 to determine the disease prevalence both by standard parasitological method and rapid assessment using school children as tracers. A total of 10,180 school children (5444 males and 736 females) aged between 6 and 14 years in 51 randomly selected primary schools in 17 communities were studied. Six hundred and eighty eight children (6.8%) comprising 438 (8.0%) males and 250 (5.3%) females were infected with S. haematobium. Of those infected, 456 (66.3%) had hematuria, and this indicator had a specificity of 91.0% and a sensitivity rate of (67.7%). There was a close association between hematuria and the presence of S. haematobium. Five schistosomiasis belts namely Bende (47.7%), Ohafia (22.7%), Isuikwuato (20.0%), Arochukwu (15.0%) and Obingwa (9.3%) Local Government Areas were located in the state. The use of hematuria in Rapid assessment survey as a diagnostic tool for mass screening of communities in vesical schistosomiasis prior to mass treatment is highlighted.

International Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences Vol. 2 (4) 2006: pp. 383-387