Prevalence of Soil-Transmitted Helminths among Asymptomatic School Children in Selected Rural and Urban Communities in North-Central Nigeria

Soil-Transmitted Helminths (STHs) are a group of intestinal parasitic nematodes causing diseases in humans when exposed to their infective stages (eggs or larvae) thriving in warm and moist soil. This study ascertains the prevalence of STHs among school children in urban and rural communities in North-Central Nigeria. A cross-sectional study involving 1,372 randomly selected school children, aged 4 to 12 years from twelve public primary schools was conducted between November 2023 and May 2024. Stool specimens were collected from 686 pupils from Rural schools and 686 from Urban schools and examined using the direct wet mount and formal-ethyl acetate concentration techniques. Of the 1,372 stool specimens examined, 231(16.8%) were infected with at least one type of STHs comprising 18.3% and 15.3% prevalence in rural and urban communities respectively. Parasites identified were eggs of Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, Ancylostoma duodenale and larvae of Strongyloides stercoralis. The age group 7–9 years had the highest prevalence of 23.4%, but no significant difference seen in prevalence across age groups. Males (19.1%) had significantly higher infection than females (13.8%) in both rural and urban communities (p=0.036). The high prevalence of STHs infections in this study underscores the need for regular health education programs among pupils to further inculcate the practice of proper hygiene and the provision of social amenities in primary schools by concerned government agencies. Additionally, regular deworming of pupils is essential to reduce the disease burden.

Key Words: prevalence, soil-transmitted, helminths, asymptomatic, school children