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Original Article
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| Prevalence and intensity of urinary schistosomiasis and their effects on packed cell volume of pupils in Jaba LGA, Nigeria | ||||||
| Henry Gabriel Bishop1, Helen Ileigo Inabo2, Elijah Ekah Ella3 | ||||||
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1BSc, MSc. (in view), Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria.
2BSc, MSc., PhD., Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. 3BSc, MSc., PhD., Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. | ||||||
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| Bishop HG, Inabo HI, Ella EE. Prevalence and intensity of urinary schistosomiasis and their effects on packed cell volume of pupils in Jaba LGA, Nigeria. Edorium J Microbiol 2016;2:13–26. |
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Abstract
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Aims:
Urinary schistosomiasis is a persistent health burden among African children. They are mostly unaware of the risks of transmission of schistosomiasis via cercariae-infested water bodies and hence more infections occur. This study was aimed at assessing the prevalence and intensity of urinary schistosomiasis and their effects on packed cell volume (PCV), and the association of the disease with some socio-demographic and risks factors among pupils in Jaba LGA of Kaduna State, Nigeria.
Methods: Awareness lectures were organized in pre-selected public primary schools. A total of 505 pupils volunteered to participate in the study. From each volunteered pupil, 10 ml urine and 2 ml blood samples were collected. The urine samples were concentrated by centrifugation; the sediments were examined microscopically using 10x and 40x objectives for Schistosoma haematobium egg(s) while count/10 ml urine was recorded. Intensity categories were taken as light infection (with <50 eggs/10 ml urine) and heavy infection (with >50 eggs/10 ml urine). Blood samples were used for PCV determination by microhematocrit centrifuge technique (HCT); anemic PCV was <34%, normal PCV was ≥34 and ≤45%, high PCV was ≥46%. Results and data on sociodemographic and risk factors were subjected to various statistical analyses at p = 0.05 with IBM SPSS Version 21. Results: An overall prevalence of 12.3% was obtained for urinary schistosomiasis. Three villages (Bitaro, Ankun and Kwoi) recorded the highest prevalence of the infection. However, the infection was absent in two villages (Nok and Sambang). The highest intensity among the pupils was 204 eggs/10 ml urine. The central area had the highest mean intensity of 6.77 eggs/10 ml urine. Areas of highest prevalence did not coincide with areas of highest intensity. The infection and its intensity were higher among the females (15.5%, 4.18 eggs/10 ml urine) than the males (9.1%, 1.22 eggs/10 ml urine) respectively. Similarly, the females had higher light and heavy infections than the males. There was an observed increase of urinary schistosomiasis with increase in pupils' class. Both the infection and its intensity had gradual 'wave-like' increases with rise in age of the pupils. Only two signs/symptoms (painful micturition, urine color), and one risk factor ('Fadama' farming) were statistically associated with urinary schistosomiasis. The prevalence of anemia was found to be 8.1% while 37.6% of the pupils had normal PCV; the remaining study population had abnormally highly PCV. There was a statistically significant association between urinary schistosomiasis and anemia among the pupils (χ2 = 11.870; df = 2; p = 0.003). Though anemia was recorded both among the infected and uninfected pupils, a higher occurrence of the anemia (17.7%) was observed in pupils infected with urinary schistosomiasis than those who were not infected (6.8%). The cause of the anemia in the later may be due to other diseases. There was higher level of non-occurrence of urinary schistosomiasis in pupils with high PCV (56.4%). Heavy infections with urinary schistosomiasis among the pupils, with a statistical significance (χ2 = 12.807; df = 4; p = 0.012) led to higher occurrence of anemia of 20.0% than light infections which caused 17.2% of anemia. Conclusion: With an overall prevalence of 12.3% and varying levels of intensity, urinary schistosomiasis is still prevalent in Nigeria which calls for concerted efforts to eradicate its menace in all affected regions. Whatever that affects the health of children should not be neglected. The female pupils were significantly more affected than the male pupils and hence are predisposed to further complications like female genital schistosomiasis (FGS) and bladder cancers. The disease is associated with painful micturition and red/brown-colored urine. Farming on 'Fadama' (i.e., waterlogged) farms enhances the acquisition of the disease. Heavy infection with the worms exacerbates the anemia in children. There was a total unawareness of the disease in Jaba LGA of Kaduna State, Nigeria, which is a major promoter of exposure to the cercariae of the schistosomes during water-contact activities. | |
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Keywords:
Intensity, Jaba LGA, Nigeria, Pupils, Schistosoma haematobium, Unawareness, Urine
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Author Contributions:
Henry Gabriel Bishop – Substantial contributions to conception and design, Acquisition of data, Analysis and interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published Helen Ileigo Inabo – Analysis and interpretation of data, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published Elijah Ekah Ella – Analysis and interpretation of data, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published |
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Guarantor of submission
The corresponding author is the guarantor of submission. |
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Source of support
None |
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Conflict of interest
Authors declare no conflict of interest. |
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Copyright
© 2016 Henry Gabriel Bishop et al. This article is distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original author(s) and original publisher are properly credited. Please see the copyright policy on the journal website for more information. |
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