The current epidemiological status of urogenital schistosomiasis among primary school pupils in Katsina State, Nigeria: An imperative for a scale up of water and sanitation initiative and mass administration of medicines with Praziquantel

摘要

Author summary In 1851, human schistosomiasis was discovered in Egypt by a German surgeon named Theodor Bilharz. Therefore, it is alternatively called 'bilharziasis'. Being a disease that is closely associated with poverty in the tropics, chiefly the sub-Saharan Africa, Urinary Schistosomiasis is transmitted to humans who source for non-potable water in open and unwholesome water bodies infested with the infective stage of schistosomes which are excreted by Bulinus globosus, a freshwater snail and suitable intermediate host. Before now, many endemic foci of the disease have been discovered with many unidentified yet. Meanwhile, the initiative on Sanitation, Hygiene and Water in Nigeria (SHAWN) in the study area is suffering a major setback due to poor data availability despite being due to round up her activities by early 2018. Consequently, we embarked on this survey to determine: the extent at which Urinary Schistosomiasis is prevalent, its severity, and factors that were responsible for its transmission. We found out that the study area was at a low-moderate risk of endemicity for the disease. However, mean intensity of infection was too high. Based on these, a need for Praziquantel is indisputable. Criteria for categorizing areas endemic for the disease should be revised to embrace the novelty of capturing mean intensity of infection.