Status of urogenital schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis co-infection among pupils in a rural setting of Ebonyi State, Nigeria

The study investigated persistence of urinary schistosomiasis and geohelminthiasis during MDA of anthelminthics. Information on supply and utilization of the anthelminthics from 2014 to 2017 were obtained from Ebonyi State Ministry of Health, Abakaliki, and from Ezza North LGA headquarters respectively. Urine and stool specimens were collected from 200 pupils from selected schools in Ezza North LGA. The specimens were examined using standard parasitological techniques. A total of 389,064 and 725,443 tablets of praziquantel and albendazole respectively were supplied to the study-area from 2014 to 2017. The percentage utilization of the regimen was 57.03% and 63.88% respectively. Age-dependent prevalence of schistosomiasis among the pupils indicated a total of 10.5%. Age group 9-11 years had least prevalence (6.15%) in comparison with others, with significant difference (p=0.044). Though the males were infected more than the females (11.96% vs 9.26%), no significant difference (p=0.535) was observed in prevalence of S. haematobium infections. Gender-related prevalence of soil-transmitted helminthiasis indicated no significant difference (p=0.224). Infection prevalence with respect to taxa of geohelminths indicated that hookworms had higher prevalence (24.50%) than A. lumbricoides (5%) and Trichuris trichiura (2.5%). Prevalence of the helminths were still high, despite appreciable levels of supply and utilization of the regimens. Surveillance for drug resistance is recommended. Keywords: Schistosomiasis; soil-transmitted helminthiaasis; co-infection; chemotherapy; Ebonyi State