Abstract

Urogenital schistosomiasis is the most prevalent type of schistosomiasis, leading to terminal haematuria and bladder wall pathology. The disease is often characterized by blood in urine, affecting 110 million individuals globally. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors of Schistosoma haematobium infection, the major pathogen of the disease, among school-age children in Sabon Gari Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Northern Nigeria. Consent of ethics was obtained from the state's Ministry of Health, and a cross-sectional study was executed using a non-probability sampling method. Consequently, 300 urine samples were collected from 169 males and 131 females (ages 5-14 years) and parasite eggs detection was carried out using the sedimentation method. S. haematobium eggs was found in 37 urine samples with a Schistosoma bovis co-infection case. Furthermore, the species of S. haematobium were confirmed but not S. bovis by Nested-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis using genomic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) extracted through the Phenol-Chloroform Isoamyl (25:24:1) method. The Chi-square test analysis of data on risk factors showed a 12.33% prevalence of urogenital schistosomiasis among the school children examined, with male children (12%) presenting higher infection prevalence than females (0.33%), and ages 11-14 years being more susceptible to infection than 5-10 years. Overall, the pupil’s demography and level of disease awareness significantly impacted urogenital schistosomiasis prevalence in the study area (p < 0.05). These findings underscore the need for more integrative control measures other than mass praziquantel administration to contain Urogenital schistosomiasis prevalence/persistence in Sabon Gari Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The government and relevant stakeholders are employed to ensure the provision of potable water facilities within the area to prevent the parasite transmission cycle, perform continued awareness and mass praziquantel administration, and carry out snail control strategies.

Key words: Prevalence, risk factors, Schistosoma haematobium, Urogenital schistosomiasis.