Urinary schistosomiasis in Ihitte Uboma Local Government Area of Imo State, Nigeria

A survey was conducted to determine the prevalence and intensity of urinary schistosomiasis in six communities in Ihitte Uboma Local Government Area of Imo State, Nigeria, between February and July 2005. Centrifuge concentration technique was employed in the analysis of urine for the eggs of Schistosoma haematobium. Of the 665 persons examined, 54 (8.1%) comprising 32 (8.9%) males and 22 (7.2%) females were infected. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of the disease in relation to sex (x2 = 0.58, df = 1, p > 0.05). Infection prevalence was highest (9.3%) in the 11-20 years agegroup and thereafter decreased gradually with increase in age. The mean egg count was highest in males (20.1+ 5.2 mean eggs/10 ml) in the age group 11-20 years and in females (21.8+5.3 mean eggs/10 ml) in 0-10 years age-group. Among the infected persons, 18 (33.3%) were excreting under 50 eggs /10 ml of urine while 36 (66.7%) were excreting >50 eggs/10 ml of urine. Infection rate was higher among students (9.1%) and farmers (8.2%) than the other occupational groups. However, the variation in infection rate among different occupational groups was not statistically significant (x2 = 0.912; df = 3; p> 0.05). Keywords: urinary schistosomiasis, prevalence, intensity, Ihitte Uboma, Imo State, Nigeria. Nigerian Journal of Parasitology Vol. 28 (2) 2007: pp. 90-9