Community-based prevalence, intensity and risk factors associated with soil-transmitted helminthiases and intestinal schistosomiasis in Apojola, Ogun state, southwest Nigeria.

BACKGROUND

Soil-transmitted helminthiases (STH) and schistosomiasis are parasitic neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) of significant public health importance globally, including Nigeria. Urogenital schistosomiasis is highly endemic in Apojola, a rural community in Ogun State, southwest Nigeria, but data on STH and intestinal schistosomiasis in the neglected community are lacking.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the prevalence and intensity of STH and intestinal schistosomiasis and the risk factors associated with the infections in Apojola.

METHODS

The study was community-based and cross-sectional. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain information on socio-demographic, personal, and household WASH characteristics of the study population. Stool samples were collected and processed for parasitological examination using the triplicate Kato-Katz (K-K) smears.

RESULTS

A total of 283 individuals (males, 50.2%; females, 49.8%) aged 3 to 65 years (mean age ± S.D.: 19.6 ± 14.8 years) participated in the study. No case of intestinal schistosomiasis was recorded in the study, while the overall prevalence of any STH was 38.2%: A. lumbricoides (24.0%) and hookworms (25.8%). Prevalence of infection was not significantly different between males and females for any STH (40.1% vs. 36.2%, χ = 0.473, p = 0.492); A. lumbricoides (23.2% vs. 22.7%, χ = 0.012, p = 0.913); or hookworms (28.2% vs. 23.4%; p = 0.360; χ = 0.839), but significantly varied with age for any STH (χ = 22.225, p = 0.002); A. lumbricoides (χ = 16.354, p = 0.022); or hookworms (χ = 20.001, p = 0.006). The intensity of infection was neither associated with gender nor age and was mostly light. Walking barefoot, toilet type (absent/bush), and irregular washing of fruits and/or vegetables before consumption were significantly associated with STH.

CONCLUSION

Our data indicate that intestinal schistosomiasis is not prevalent in Apojola and that the community is a moderate-risk area for STH. Hence, the current annual preventive chemotherapy for STH (PC STH) with albendazole or mebendazole in school-aged children (SAC) through the school-based delivery programme should be extended to non-enrolled SAC and pre-SAC using other delivery platforms. This should be complemented with regular and effective health education campaigns as well as water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH)-related interventions.