Effect of Mass Chemotherapy with Praziquantel on the Prevalence of Schistosomiasis in School Children in Langai Community of Plateau State

Abstract

Background: One of the main control measures for Schistosomiasis in Nigeria is mass chemotherapy with Praziquantel tablets in areas where the disease is prevalent. This study was carried out to determine the effect of drug treatment with Praziquantel on the prevalence of urinary and intestinal Schistosomiasis among school children. Methodology: Multi-staged sampling technique was used to select 218 school children. A structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used to gather data from the children; their urine and stool samples were assayed for Schistosoma haematobium and Schistosoma mansoni ova using the sedimentation method, before and after drug treatment with orally administered Praziquantel tablets at 40mg/kg body weight. Results: Before treatment with Praziquantel tablets, 14 subjects (6.4%) had S. haematobium ova in their urine samples while 17 subjects (7.8%), had S. mansoni ova in their stool samples. Male subjects of the ages 10-14year old had the highest prevalence of the disease. Six weeks after treatment, the prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis had been significantly reduced (with P = 0.03 and 0.05 respectively) to 0.5% in the studied population (cure rate of 92.9%) while that of intestinal schistosomiasis was 1.4% (cure rate of 82.4%). Conclusion: It was concluded that the prevalence of urinary and intestinal schistosomiasis among school children in Langai pre-intervention was 6.4% and 7.8 % respectively and drug treatment with Praziquantel, reduced these to 0.5% and 1.4% respectively. Praziquantel was also more effective in reducing the prevalence of urinary than intestinal schistosomiasisKey Words Prevalence, Schistosoma haematobium, Schistosoma mansoni, Praziquantel, Effectiveness