PREVALENCE OF URINARY SCHISTOSOMIASIS ANDRELATED UNDER-NUTRITION AMONG PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN AT ABOBO DISTRICT, GAMBELLA, SOUTHWEST ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Introduction:Urinary schistosomiasis affects large number of people worldwide, with wide spread in Africa and children as the most vulnerable group. Chronic existence of this infection can lead to imbalance of nutritional status and growth retardation among children. Even though, the disease is endemic in Ethiopia, there is scarcity of informationdealing with prevalence of this disease and under-nutrition among individuals with this disease. Objective: To assess the prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis and related under-nutrition among primary school children at Abobo district, Gambella, Southwest Ethiopia. Methods: Cross-sectional study was conducted from February to June 2014 among primary school children in Abobo district. A total of 304 study participants were selected by simple random sampling. Structured questioner and anthropometric measurements were used to collect demographic and associated factors, and under-nutrition data, respectively. Urine samples were examined by filtration techniquefor urinary schistosomiasis and egg load was determined per 10ml urine. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Both bivariate and multivariate binarylogistic regression was used. AOR with 95% CI were used to measure the strength of association between independent and outcome variable. P-value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results:Among 304 study participant the overall prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis was 109(35.9%) with mean egg intensity of 8.76 per 10ml of urine. Males(67(61.5%)) were significantly[AOR(95%CI)= 2.15(1.31,3.52)] more affected than females (42(38.5%)). The prevalence of the infection increased with age but without significant association between them. Children whose fathers are farmer were significantly [AOR (95%CI) = 1.96(1.19, 3.22)] more affected (61(56%)) than others. The prevalence of under-nutrition among urinary schistosomiasis infected were 6(5.5%), 1(0.9%) and 4(3.7%) for stunting, underweight and thinness respectively and they had no significant association with the infection. Conclusion:Urinary schistosomiasis was endemic at the study area, where sex, father’s occupation and living with parent were the determinant factors of the infection. There was no significant association between urinary schistosomiasis and under-nutrition.Regular health education and mass treatment isrecommended at the site.