Abstract

Schistosomiasis, one of the neglected tropical diseases continues to plague communities with little or no access to potable water and with high water contact activities. Ipogun village in Ondo State is one of such communities in Nigeria. This study assessed the efficacy of praziquantel and the association of the ABO blood grouping in disease epidemiology in the only private primary school in the village. Ten milliliters of urine and 3 ml of blood samples were collected for urinalysis and blood grouping test respectively from a total of 113 pupils. Results showed that, 60 (53.1%) were infected with Schistosoma haematobium. Infected pupils were treated with praziquantel (40 mg/kg body weight) and subsequently re-screened 5 months after the administration of the chemotherapeutic. Results also showed that a single dose of praziquantel conferred a 94.44% cure rate. ABO blood grouping was also observed not to be associated with the epidemiology of the disease as frequency or severity of infection was not significant (p > 0.05) among the three represented blood groups (A, B and O).

Key words: Urinary schistosomiasis, praziquantel, ABO blood grouping, epidemiology.