The prevalence of intestinal nematode in school children in Ebonyi Local Government Area, Ebonyi State, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

The study was carried out to determine the prevalence of intestinal nematodes infection in school children between February and April 2009. Eight hundred feacal samples were examined using direct smear method. Of this number; 204 (25.5;) infected with the parasites of intestinal nematodes were Ascaris lumbricoides (20.0); Strongyloides stercoralis; (0.4) Hookworm (3.5) and Trichuris trichuria (1.3) implicated. Sex was found to be a strong factor influencing their prevalence. Chi square test with statistical significance difference (p0.05) was used for the analysis. The study revealed that Ascaris lumbricoides had the highest prevalence of infection among the parasites implicated. However; regular deworming exercise with albendazole and other possible diagnosis methods will improve the health status of the infected children. Personal hygiene and health campaign programmes should be carried out to the general public on the importance of control and possible eradication of the parasite