Distribution Pattern of Human Urinary Schistosomiasis in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

Human urinary schistosomiasis is a severe parasitic infectious disease in many rural communities in tropical Africa. The status of infection in Kwara State is inadequately documented. We, therefore, investigated distribution pattern of infection amongst school-aged children in the three Senatorial Districts of the state. Of 3757 urine samples examined, 670 (17.8%) were infected with 8.9% in Central, 13.5% in South and 28.7% in the North Senatorial districts. The overall geometric mean intensity and mean population egg load were 347.3 and 61.9 eggs per 10 mL urine respectively. Generally, infection is age and sex dependent (p<0.05). Males had significantly higher prevalence and intensity of infections than the female (20.6%, 361 eggs/10 mL of urine vs. 14.3%, 340 eggs/10 mL of urine; p<0.0001). A high eggcounts of 412.25 eggs/10 mL urine was recorded among 16-20 years age group in Kwara central. In this study, 27.2 and 10.7% were moderately and heavily infected respectively. There is a significant association between intensity of infection and prevalence of haematuria and proteinuria among the infected population (p<0.0001). Our findings show that urinary schistosomiasis is endemic among kwaran schoolchildren and further study is recommended to reveal the essentials attributable risk factors of infection in the endemic communities.