Survey of Helminth Eggs in the Playgrounds of Pupils in Bwari Area Council, Abuja Nigeria

Abstract

Parasitic helminth infections are of public health importance and resulting morbidities mostly affect school-aged children. This study was  conducted in Bwari Area Council, Abuja, aimed to assess levels of contamination of preprimary and primary school playgrounds by  helminth eggs. Twenty schools were randomly selected, 10 private and 10 public-owned pre/primary schools. Using floatation method,  direct smear, and formal-ether sedimentation techniques, eggs were recovered from soil samples. Overall, 6607 eggs were obtained from  400 soil samples of which 4836 were geo-helminth and 239(59.8%) were positive for helminth eggs. The distribution is as follows:  Taenia eggs(18.5%), Toxocara eggs(14.4%), Fasciola eggs(1.2%), Strongyle eggs(2.5%), Hookworm eggs (16.0%), Schistosome eggs(0.1%),  Trichuris eggs(2.9%), Strongyloides eggs(8.2)%, Coccidian eggs(21.8%) and Mite eggs (14.5%) were also recorded. There was no  significant association between the occurrence of helminth eggs and 2 the schools (χ² = 0.6434, p = 0.4225). There was no significant  association between the occurrence of geo-helminth eggs and the soil samples from primary  and pre-primary school playgrounds (χ² =  2.751, p = 0.0972). This study revealed that the soils of pre-primary school playgrounds in Bwari Area Council were contaminated with  helminth eggs. School-based chemotherapy and public enlightenment programmes should be encouraged.