Prevalence of schistosomiasis and associated factors among students attending at elementary schools in Amibera District, Ethiopia

Introduction: Schistosomiasis is one of the most prevalent parasitic diseases and an important public health problem in many developing countries including Ethiopia. The study was aimed at assessing prevalence of schistosomiasis and associated factors among students attending at elementary schools in Amibera District, Ethiopia. Methods: A cross sectional school based study was carried out on sample of 840 students. First, all elementary schools around Amibera District were grouped in to strata based on their distance from the irrigation site as “Near” or “Far”. Then two schools were selected by simple random sampling method from each stratum. Finally, proportional allocation of the sample size was done according to the number of students in each stratum. From each grade level students were selected by simple random sampling techniques. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to collect data on socio demographic characteristics, water contact habit and toilet utilization. Stool and urine examination were done to determine prevalence. The analysis was carried out using SPSS version 16.0. Result and Conclusions: The overall prevalence of schis- tosomiasis in this study was 8.2%; among this Schisosoma haematobium was 7.4% and Schisosoma mansoni was 0.8%. Education level (p-value = 0.047, OR = 1.834), swimming habit (p-value = 0.0001, OR = 4.979) and source of water for domestic consumption (p-value = 0.0001, OR = 0.334) had shown significant association with the occurrence of S. haematobium infection. Conclusion and recommendations: The prevalence of schistosomiasis was not what to be neglected. It was significantly associated with educational level, swimming habit of children and source of water for domestic consumption. Therefore, provision of safe water supply and health education at school level was recommended.