Prevalence and factors associated with schistosomiasis in five Schools of Ng'ombe township in Lusaka Urban District
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Date
2011-11-04
Authors
Kalungwana, Ng'andwe
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Abstract
Schistosomiasis is a tropical disease caused by a parasitic worm of the genus Schistosoma.
Natural streams, ponds and lakes are typical sources of infection, but over the past few decades,man-made reservoirs and irrigation systems have contributed to the spread of schistosomiasis.The disease is a rural problem, but urban foci can be found in many endemic areas.The Zambian Ministry of Health (MOH) reports that schistosomiasis highly prevalent in rural districts especially those close to the Lakes and rivers. Anecdotal evidence suggests that
Ng’ombe Township is the hardest hit by schistosomiasis in Lusaka province of Zambia. Even though a number of studies including national surveys have been done on schistosomiasis, no study on the factors associated with the disease in Ng’ombe Township has been documented. A Cross Sectional Exploratory survey was conducted to determine the prevalence and factors
associated with Schistosomiasis in five schools of Ng’ be Township in Lusaka district where a total of 260 school-going children aged 8-14 years participated in the study. No cases of were recorded in the five schools of Ng’ombe Township. However, the prevalence of infection was 13.1% (34/260) overall.Age is significantly associated with infection. Compared with participants age less than 10 years, participants aged 10-11 years and those aged 12 years or older were 5.17 (95% CI [1.62,16.49]) and 14.96 (95% CI [2.52, 88.65]) times more li ly to get infected, respectively.Children in grade five were 65% (AOR=0.35, 95% CI [0.02, 0.40]) less likely to have Schistosomiasis than those in grade three. Pupils whose source of water at school was a public
water tap were 73% (AOR=0.27, 95% CI [0.09, 0.90]) less likely to have schistosomiasis than those that were using a communal hand pump at school Pupils of Ng’ombe Township are highly knowledgeable about the disease. Continuing health education programs are clearly needed to maintain the levels of awareness of the disease in schools.
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Keywords
Schistomiasis , Bilharziasis , Snail fever