Prevalence of soil transmitted helminths, schistosoma infection and associated factors among school children in Mpigi town council.

Abstract

Introduction: Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) and Schistosoma infections are important neglected tropical iseases that can have devastating effects in both children and adults. They have been implicated in causing severe morbidities such as; Anemia, malnutrition,liver disease among others in many individuals. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of STH and S. mansoni infections as well as factors associated with infection of these worms among school-going children in Mpigi town council. Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study was carried out in four selected primary schools in Mpigi town council. Random sampling was done to select 4 schools from which 150 children were also randomly selected. Stool samples were collected from selected children and tested for STH and S.mansoni infection. Information about predictor factors was collected using structured interviewer administered questionaires.Data management and analysis was done using microsoft excel and STATA 13.0. Numerical variables were summarized using mean and standard deviation of the mean (SD) and bivariate analysis was done to compare the prevalence of STH and S.mansoni among different socio-demographic categories using cross-tabulation with a Chi-square test. Logistic regression was done to determine factors associated with worm infection. Results: Of the 150 children, 76 were male. The mean age was 10 years. The overall prevalence of STH was 16.67% (95%CI 11%-23%) with highest noted for Hookworm 8.7% (95%CI 4.2%13.5%) followed by Trichuris trichiura 5.3% (95%CI 1.8%-9.3%) while 2.7% (95%CI 0.7%6.7%) had mixed infections. S.mansoni prevalence was 2.7%(95%CI 0.7%-6.7%). Wearing shoes at school and hand washing after toilet at home were found to be associated in a protective way against helminth infections; AOR 0.17 (95%CI 0.05-0.5) and AOR 0.2(95%CI 0.08-0.7) respectively. Deworming in schools was found to have no association with helminth infection Conclusions: Prevalence of STHs and S.mansoni among school children in Mpigi district town council is quite low compared to that found in previous studies done among school children in other districts. Infection was associated with poor hygiene practices i.e. hand washing after toilet and wearing shoes at school. Deworming in the schools was less than adequate