Background
In recent years, the prevalence of
schistosomiasis
, a neglected tropical infection, has increased in underprivileged rural communities characterized by poverty.
Objective
This cross-sectional community-based study was carried out to determine the prevalence of urinary
schistosomiasis
in a neglected community of Apojola community, South-Western Nigeria at two points in time, spaced three years apart
Method and results
A total of 145 participants were screened and 44.1% were diagnosed to have urinary
Schistosoma haematobium
infection after sedimentation and microscopy. The prevalence of
schistosomiasis
among females was higher (45.3%) than that among males (42.4%) but not significantly different (0.723). The prevalence of participants with light infection (26%) was significantly higher than those with heavy infection (11.0%). The predisposing factors with statistically significant association with
Schistosoma haematobium
infection were age (0.000), level of education (0.002), eating/selling of snails (0.037), occupation (0.000), drinking water (0.001), swimming (0.008), and washing in a river (0.019).
Conclusion
These findings indicate that the study area is still endemic to urinary
schistosomiasis
after three years of research and school-age children and teenagers are the populations at risk of urinary
schistosomiasis
. Community health education on the cause, mode of transmission, prevention, and prompt treatment of schistosomiasis is recommended.