Study of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs): An Approach towards Gastro-Intestinal Helminthes among School Children in Nigeria

This study reports on detection and prevalence of intestinal parasites among school children in Port Harcourt, the capital city of Rivers State, Nigeria. Stool samples were collected from 100(46.5%) males and 115(53.5%) females. Microscopic examination of both thin and thick films of the stool sample were done. In all, three intestinal helminthes were identified. The overall prevalence was 30.7% and this was predominantly among male school children (37.0%) than in females (25.2%) from both locations. Of the three parasite species observed, T. trichiura (39.4%) was the most predominant helminthes in this study. This was closely followed by A. lumbricoides (33.3%) and hook worm (27.3%) was the least. Generally, intestinal helminthes was most predominant in samples from Emohua State Primary School (ESPS), Emohua (90.9%) than those from University Demonstration Primary School (UDPS) in Choba (9.1%)]. Intestinal helminthes were most predominant among children aged 10-15 years (57.6%) than those within age group 5-9 years (42.4%) of age from both locations. It further showed that among the male school children, A. lumbricoides (63.6%) was most predominant, followed by hook worms (55.6%) and T. trichiura (50.0%) was least predominant. There were no incidence or prevalence of multiple infections of any of the three helminthes in the study. This study shows that a good percentage of people were infested by parasitic protozoa and worms and reinforces the need for an urgent effort to check the unnecessary and avoidable heavy parasites load. [Odu NN, Okonko IO, and Erhi O. Study of Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs): Gastro-Intestinal Helminthes among school children in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Report and Opinion 2011;3(9):6-16]. (ISSN: 1553-9873). http://www.sciencepub.net.