Intestinal Helminthiasis among School Children in Ilie, Osun State, Southwest, Nigeria

A cross sectional study of intestinal helminthiasis among school pupils was undertaken in three primary schools in Ilie in Olorunda Local Government Area of Osun state in order to determine the prevalence and intensity of helminthic infections. The relationship between intestinal helminths and anthropometric indices and the factors that could favour the infection were also studied. Faecal samples from three hundred and four (304) randomly selected out of the four hundred and seven (407) school children in the study area were collected and analysed with the semi-quantitative Kato Katz technique and concentrated method. The intensity of infection was classified into light, moderate or high according to World Health Organisation (WHO) thresholds. The overall prevalence rate was 52.0% while five species of intestinal helminths were identified. Ascaris lumbricoides (36.2%) was the most common, followed by Hookworm (10.5%), Schistosoma mansoni (4%), Strongyloides stercoralis (0.7%) and Hymenolepis nana (0.7%). Multiple helminthic infection were recorded with Ascaris –Hookworm (6.58%) having the highest prevalence among the children. Female (56.6%) were more infected than male (46.4%) and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.0019). Seventeen percent (17%) of the children were below the third percentile for weight (wasted) while fourteen percent (14%) were below the third percentile for height (stunted). There was a relationship between intensity of infection and wasting since there were fewer underweight pupils (13%) with normal stool than those moderately infected (35%) (

Hematological profile of Plasmodium falciparum infected patients in Ile- Ife southwest, Nigeria

Hematological profile of Plasmodium falciparum infected patients in Ile- Ife, southwest Nigeria was analyzed across 60 blood samples. Forty of these samples were from confirmrd P. falciparum infected patients attending outpatient clinic at Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex, Ile-Ife, while 20 were from apparently healthy individuals not infected with malaria parasites (control). Standard methods were used to determine the haematocrit, erythrocytes sedimentation rate (ESR), plasma and whole blood viscosity and fibrinogen concentration (clot weight). There were statistically significant differences between the mean ± SD of infected and control subjects in the haematocrit levels (32.58±8.10 and 42.90±7.76) respectively ERS (24.38±3.00 and 8.20±1.91) and plasma fibrinogen concentration (5.09±1.23 and 3.16±0.73) (p<0.05). The differences in the mean ± SD of whole blood viscosity (6.50±0.80 and 5.57±1.42) and mean of plasma viscosity for the control and infected subjects were not statistically significant (p>0.05). The above results showed that Plasmodium falciparum infected patients are at risk of thrombosis.Keywords: Plasmodium falciparum, blood, Hematological, malariaInternational Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences, 6(2): 236-238, 201