title: Urogenital schistosomiasis and urological assessment of hematuria in preschool-aged children in rural communities of Nigeria.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The study evaluates the prevalence of urogenital schistosomiasis and diagnostic performance of chemical reagent strips used for disease diagnosis in preschool-aged children (≤ 5 years) in Nigeria rural communities.
  
  
  METHODS
  Urine samples from 419 children were observed microscopically for Schistosoma haematobium and screened for hematuria using standard urine chemical reagent strips.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Prevalence and intensity of infection were 9.8% and 14.4 eggs/10 ml of urine, respectively. Prevalence of infection was similar in girls (10%) and boys (9.6%) (p > 0.05). The intensity of infection was higher in boys (17.1 eggs/10 ml of urine) than in girls (12.8 eggs/10 ml of urine); however, this was not gender dependent (p > 0.05). The occurrence of hematuria was not associated with gender (p > 0.05), but was associated with prevalence of infection (p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Infection with S. haematobium occurs early in life in the communities and although intensity of infection is low, it could have serious implications in disease transmission. Hematuria, although moderately sensitive to infection, is an important morbidity indicator of urogenital schistosomiasis in the study population.
authors.affiliation: Parasitology Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria; Department of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria. Electronic address: zootund@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Oyetunde T
authors.initials: OT
authors.lastname: Salawu
authors.affiliation: Parasitology Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Alexander B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Odaibo
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D019353:Endemic Diseases / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006417:Hematuria / Q000469:parasitology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011934:Reagent Strips; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012553:Schistosomiasis haematobia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D011934:Reagent Strips
keywords: Diagnosis; Nigeria; Preschool-aged children; Prevalence; Schistosoma haematobium