Molecular and Microscopy Diagnosis of Schistosoma haematobium from Filtered Urine of Students in Endemic Area of Osun state, Nigeria

Schistosomiasis is second to malaria among parasitic diseases. Continuing efforts and strategies are needed to reduce the burden of the infection on humans. Availability of highly accurate diagnostic test is vital for the accurate diagnosis and control of the infection. The aim of this study is to screen students in the endemic areas for schistosomiasis using microscopy diagnostic method and molecular diagnostic method. A total of 250 students between the ages of 10-21years in Oba Oke and Oba Ile were recruited for the study. Urine samples were collected and screened using both microscopy and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) diagnostic methods. The results revealed that 78 (31.6%) of the cases examined were positive for Schistosoma haematobium using Polymerase Chain Reaction while 52 (21.1%) cases were positive for Schistosoma haematobium using microscopy method. The results showed that the prevalence of Schistosoma haematobium is 31.6% (78/247) in the study area. The prevalence in respect to gender showed that males 50 (45.0%) were more infected than females 28 (20.6%) and the difference was statistically significant (p=0.00). The prevalence between the 2 communities showed that Oba Ile recorded the highest prevalence of 34.3% compared to Oba Oke 27.9% although it was not statistically significant (p> 0.05). The prevalence in relation to age range showed no significant difference between the ages of the school children (p=0.27). The study revealed that PCR diagnostic method is more accurate than Microscopy diagnostic method. Also, the prevalence of infection is high in the study area according to World Health Organisation.