Background We redesigned the Schisto and Ladders health educational board game and evaluated its potential to encourage compliance to school-based mass drug administration with praziquantel. Methods Two hundred and seventy-five children from six schools who rejected praziquantel treatment were divided into intervention and control groups. Before the intervention, preassessment interviews were conducted on their knowledge about praziquantel treatment and schistosomiasis. The Schisto and Ladders version 2 game as an intervention, and the Snakes and Ladders game as a control, were played for 6 mo. Postassessment interviews, including focus group discussions, were conducted. Results At preassessment, 0/98 (0.0%) children in the intervention group had heard of praziquantel compared with 2/177 (1.1%) in the control group. Similarly, 0/98 (0.0%) children in the intervention group did not know that praziquantel does not kill compared with 4/177 (2.3%) in the control group. The postassessment showed that 53/78 (67.9%) in the intervention group were aware of praziquantel compared with 2/177 (1.1%) in the control group (p=0.000). Similarly, 53 (69.7%) in the intervention group knew about the safety of praziquantel compared with 0/177 (0.0%) in the control group (p=0.000). Sixty-four children (65.3%) from the intervention group sought praziquantel treatment after the trial. Conclusions Schisto and Ladders version 2 is a useful sensitisation tool with which to encourage compliance to praziquantel treatment in schools.

Background The need to control Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) and sustain progress towards elimination through mass administration of medicines requires substantial communal participation. This study, therefore, assessed the knowledge and perception of attendees’ regarding NTDs and its control activities during the Inaugural World NTD day event in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Methodology A cross-sectional study involving the administration of pretested semi-structured questionnaires to consenting attendees at the Inaugural World NTD day event was conducted on the 30th January, 2020. The questionnaire collected data on attendee’s demography, knowledge and awareness about NTDs in Nigeria. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics in SPSS. 20.0 Software and expressed as frequencies and percentages. However, qualitative data to support quantitative analysis were obtained using open-ended questionnaires and analysed thematically. Principal findings/conclusion A total of 309 attendees comprising 167 (54.0%) females, and 142 (46.0%) males participated in this study. By age groupings, majority 206 (66.7%) were within 15–25 years. 167 (54.8%) of the attendees have not heard about NTDs before, whereas 77(35.0%) have heard about NTDs through the advertisement of the event. 181(63.3%) were aware of ongoing NTD control programs in schools and communities. Also, 246 (83.4%) of them have not taken or do not know anyone that has taken drugs donated in schools or communities before. The number of attendees 41(13.3%) who incorrectly classified malaria as NTDs is higher than those who recognized onchocerciasis 36 (11.7%) and worm infections 34(11.0%) as NTDs (p>0.05). This study has shown that awareness and knowledge about NTDs control activities in Ekiti State is low, thus justifying the event as an awareness day for addressing NTDs. Public enlightment and regular promotional activities such as media engagement will raise the public appreciation and participation in NTDs control activities.

Polyparasitism is widespread in many communities in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, there is paucity of data on polyparasitism in infants and preschool-aged children (IPSAC), to inform policy developments. Therefore, a survey of 1110 consented IPSAC was undertaken in Egbedore Local Government Area (LGA), Osun State, Nigeria, to determine the prevalence of polyparasitism in IPSAC in ten randomly selected rural communities. Fresh stool and blood samples were collected and processed for intestinal parasites and malaria infection. Mothers/caregivers were interviewed using a structured questionnaire to obtain demographic data of their IPSAC and to document knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) on parasitic infections. Data obtained through the questionnaire were analyzed using EpiData version 3.1, while parasitological data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (version 20.0). Descriptive statistics were computed for demographic data and association which were tested using bivariate analysis at a 95% confidence level while significance was set at p<0.05. The results showed that 349 (46.29%) were infected with a single parasite. Infants and preschool-aged children infected with double, triple, and quadruple parasites are 268 (35.54%), 122 (16.18%), and 15 (1.99%), respectively. The prevalence of polyparasitism is 405 (53.71%). Although females (54.07%) were more infected than males (45.93%), there was no significant difference (p>0.05) observed. Significantly (p<0.05) more preschool children (65.93%) harbour more infections than the infants do (34.07%). Ara community (14.81%) had the highest cases of polyparasitized IPSAC, but no significant difference (p>0.05) was observed across the communities. Double parasitic infection of Plasmodium falciparum and Ascaris lumbricoides (30.12%) and triple parasitic infection of P. falciparum, A. lumbricoides, and T. trichiura (14.81%) were the most common forms of polyparasitism encountered in the study. This study showed that polyparasitism is a burden in IPSAC and needs further investigation.

Schistosomiasis is one of the leading neglected tropical diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. Recorded case numbers of this chronic and debilitating helminth disease indicate Nigeria to be the most endemic country within this region. National control efforts have focused intensively on restricting human contact with freshwater sources of intermediate host snails. However, limited attention has been paid to the role of livestock as reservoir hosts and the prevalence of transmission of schistosomes to humans via farmed animals. The West African nations of Mali, Senegal, and the neighbouring Niger, Benin, and Cameroon have all reported the hybridization of the closely related species of Schistosoma haematobium, which infects humans, and S. bovis, which infects cattle. As these countries share the Niger and Benue rivers, with their tributaries, there is a distinct possibility of aquatic snails infected with hybrid schistosomes migrating to become established in the Nigerian river system. Here, we report on the current state of research in Nigeria that aims to elucidate key aspects of zoonotic schistosomiasis epidemiology. Factors promoting the hybridization of Schistosoma species are highlighted, and how available control measures can be optimized to address the emergence of schistosome hybrids is discussed.

Background The impact of single-dose mass drug administration (MDA) of ivermectin for onchocerciasis on mosquito populations was investigated in Ogun State, Nigeria. Methods Indoor and outdoor collection of mosquitoes was carried out in two intervention (IC) and two control communities (CC) at three different periods: pre-MDA (baseline), 2–3 days after MDA and 13–14 days after MDA. The density and parity rate of female Anopheles and Culex mosquitoes were determined and compared. Environmental and climatic data of study locations were obtained to perform generalized linear model analysis. Results A total of 1399 female mosquitoes were collected, including 1227 Anopheles and 172 Culex mosquitoes. There was a similar magnitude of reduction in the indoor density of Anopheles by 29% in the IC and CC 2–3 days post-MDA but the reduction in indoor parity rate was significantly higher (p = 0.021) in the IC, reducing by more than 50%. In the IC, observation of a significant reduction at 2–3 days post-MDA was consistent for both the indoor density (1.43 to 1.02) and indoor parity rate (95.35% to 44.26%) of Anopheles mosquitoes. The indoor parity rate of Anopheles remained significantly reduced (75.86%) 13–14 post-MDA. On the other hand, the indoor density of Culex increased from 0.07 to 0.10 at 2–3 days post-MDA while the indoor parity rate of Culex did not change. The outdoor density of Anopheles in the IC increased (p = 0.394) from 0.58 to 0.90 at 2–3 days post-MDA; a similar observation was consistent for the outdoor density (2.83 to 3.90) and outdoor parity rate (70.59% to 97.44%) of Culex, while the outdoor parity rate of Anopheles reduced from 85.71 to 66.67% at 2–3 days post-MDA. A generalized linear model showed that ivermectin MDA significantly caused a reduction in both the indoor density (p < 0.001) and indoor parity rate (p = 0.003) of Anopheles in the IC. Conclusion Ivermectin MDA resulted in the reduction of both the survival and density of Anopheles mosquitoes. This has strong implications for malaria transmission, which depends strongly on vector survival. Graphic abstract