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URINARY SCHISTOSOMIASIS AMONG SCHOOL CHILDREN IN NIGERIA: CONSEQUENCES OF INDIGENOUS BELIEFS AND WATER CONTACT ACTIVITIES

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2001

U. O. AMAZIGO ,
C. I. ANAGO-AMANZE  and
J. C. OKEIBUNOR
U. O. AMAZIGO
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
C. I. ANAGO-AMANZE
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
J. C. OKEIBUNOR
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
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Abstract

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A study of urinary schistosomiasis in Umueze-Anam, Anambra State, Nigeria, showed a Schistosoma haematobium infection of 26% (85) among school children with no significant difference by sex except when age as a variable is introduced. Eleven percent (37) of the 333 children were positive for haematuria; all these 37 children lived within 1·0 km of the water sources. Of the 85 infected children, swimming and laundering accounted for 65% and 48% of all water contact activities, for boys and girls respectively. One-third of the 230 adults interviewed believed haematuria to be a venereal disease and 20% thought it was a sign of maturity. Individual perception of causation and seriousness of haematuria differed by level of education and by sex. Less than 2% of the respondents knew that snails transmitted the disease. The effects of social restrictions on the epidemiology of infection is discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 29 , Issue 1 , January 1997 , pp. 9 - 18
Copyright
© 1997 Cambridge University Press