| dc.description.abstract | Schistosomiasis also known as Bilharziasis remains one of the most prevalent parasitic
worm infections and has economic and public health consequences. In 2013, report was
made to LGA on schistosomiasis by some members of the community on children
passing blood with urine but the extent of the disease was not known. This study was
therefore designed to investigate the prevalence, knowledge and preventive practice of
schistosomiasis among selected secondary school students in Oluyole Local Government,
Oyo State.
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 420 students of selected secondary schools
of Oluyole Local Government. A semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire was
used and it comprised of open - ended and close - ended questions to obtain information
on respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics, prevalence, knowledge, factors
predispose students to schistosomiasis, their preventive practice and type of information
required by the students to prevent them from getting the disease. A 13 point knowledge
scale was used to assess the knowledge of the students with (0-5) as poor, (6-9) as fair
and (10-13) as good.
Mean age of respondent’s was 14.62 ± 2.01 years, 57.9% were females and 53.8% were
in junior secondary school only 32.0 % of respondents exhibited good knowledge. One
hundred and ten (26.2%) of respondents reported that they passed blood with urine before
and majority of infected students 66(60%) out of one hundred and ten that had passed
blood with urine before visited PMV for treatment, 70(63.6%) were those who had the
disease at least once. Some reported that after successful treatment, the disease reoccurred
for two times or more. The mean knowledge of the respondents was 2.17 ± 2.25
meanwhile 329(76.6%) had not heard about the disease. Most did not know the correct
mode of transmission of the disease such as swimming in infested water 279(66.7%).
Majority did not know the sign and symptoms of schistosomiasis (haematuria
308(73.5%); dysuria 268(64.9%)’abdominal pain 295(71.8%) and supra pubic pain
260(63.7%). Also, more than two thirds did not know water bodies that habour the snails
that host the parasite (lake 277(67.9%), dam-285(63.9%), river-280(68.1%), rice field-
273(66.7%) and water collection-(71.1%). Again, only 45(40.5%) sought medical
treatment. On preventive practices, most 349(83.7%) reportedly stopped swimming in
river, 301(72.7%) stopped playing in rain and 314(75.7%) had stopped washing in river.
Nearly all the respondents desired to know more about symptoms, mode of transmission,
prevention and danger associated with the disease and treatment.
In conclusion, the prevalence of schistosomiasis was high in the studied schools and
respondents’ knowledge of the disease was poor. To address the problem, deliberate
awareness creation for the students through seminars, classroom discussion, the inclusion
of the disease in the curriculum is necessary to upgrade the knowledge of the students. | en_US |
