Prevalence and Distribution of Soil Transmitted Helminths among Children Attending Township Primary School, Jos, Plateau State

Soil transmitted helminths (STHs) infections remains the most notable health problem in resource-limited countries due to difficulties in the implementation of control measures. In Nigeria for instance, despite several community-based and provincial reports, national data on prevalence, burdens and risk zones for soil transmitted helminthes infections are lacking. Soil transmitted helminthes are wide spread in so many countries and the prevalence varies in different parts. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of and distribution of soil transmitted helminthes in children attending Township Primary School Jos, Plateau State. A total of 200 stool samples were randomly collected in school children and examined for soil transmitted helminths. The overall prevalence for STHs was 24.0%. Ascaris lumbricoides has the highest prevalence of 10.0%, hookworm having 7.0%, Trichuris trichuira with a prevalence of 4.5% and Strongyloides stercoralis 2.5%. This shows that Ascaris lumbricoides has the highest burden in children. Highest prevalence was observed in the age group 6-10 giving a prevalence of 10.5%, followed by 8.0% for age group 11- 15 and 4.5% for 1-5years. Males were mostly infected with STHs than females with prevalence of 13.0% and 10.0% respectively. STHs infections are highly prevalent in school children, therefore the strategic use of anthelmintics, health education and adequate sanitation will help in control of these infections in school children in Jos.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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The datasets used in this study are openly available at [repository link] and the source code is available on GitHub at [GitHub link].

This work did not receive any external funding.