Ultrasonographic screening of urinary schistosomiasis infected patients in Agulu community, Anambra state, southeast Nigeria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The pathology of <it>Schistosoma haematobium </it>infection in 60 infected primary school children in Agulu community, Anambra State, southeast Nigeria, with over 50 ova/10 ml urine was assessed.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The ultrasonographic examination was done using a sector scanner with convex probe. World Health Organisation method was used for classification and scoring of lesions. T-test and Coefficient of determination were used in analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The pathologic effects due to <it>S. haematobuim </it>identified among the study group included irregularity of the bladder wall (25%), thickening of the bladder wall (10%) and massing of the bladder wall (3.3%). About 4(6.7%) and 1(1.7%) of the patients had the right pelvis and left pelvis of their kidney moderately dilated respectively. Identified bladder wall lesions had 69 scores while kidney dilation had 30 scores. The number of individuals with lesions correlated with intensity of infection. Male pupils (65.2%) had more lesions than females (34.8%). The difference observed in lesion distribution among males and females was found to be significant (df = 6, p < 0.05). All bladder and kidney lesions responded favorably to treatment with praziquantel (40 mg/kg-body weight).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Health education campaign including showing the community members evidence of damages to the organs (from the ultrasound pictures) will go a long way in the control and prevention of the disease in this community.</p

Mapping of Urinary Schistosomiasis in Anambra State, Nigeria

Background: Mapping the distribution of parasitic diseases in time and space has a pivotal role to play in their control. Objective: This study mapped urinary schistosomiasis in Anambra State. Methods: Sampling covered the three senatorial districts, Anambra North, Anambra Central and Anambra South. However, only nine of the 21 local government areas (LGAs) and one town in each LGA were covered. A geographic information system (GIS) was used to map the distribution of schistosomiasis in the state. With the aid of GIS, the distance of the towns to water bodies was calculated. A total of 450 urine samples collected from the nine LGAs were examined for haematuria and 'Schistosoma haematobium' eggs. A questionnaire was used to assess exposure and risks status to infection. The urine samples were examined for haematuria using dipstick and microscopy. Findings: Overall prevalence of infection in the study was 2.9% and 5.5% for microscopy and haematuria, respectively. Prevalence of schistosomiasis was different between the districts, and this was statistically significant (χ² = 7.763, p = 0.021). Prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis in the towns had a significant negative linear relationship with distance to water body (r = –0.767, p = 0.016). Based on infection status from microscopy, the adjusted odds of infection in fishers was over 103 times higher than in students; the difference was significant statistically (AOR = 103.0443, 95% CI = 4.6278–7093.972, p = 0.0114). People who washed things in stream had 12 times significantly greater odds of infection than those that did not (AOR = 12.4585, 95% CI = 1.9590–258.8108, p = 0.02542). The distance of respondents to stream was a major determinant of infection with urinary schistosomiasis in the state. Those who lived close to water were approximately 1131% more likely to be infected than those who lived far from water bodies (AOR = 11.3157, 95% CI 2.2473–90.6889, p = 0.00713). Conclusion: Anambra State is endemic for urinary schistosomiasis. There is therefore a need for focal studies; and there may probably be a need to design a health program aimed at controlling the infection in focal areas in the state. The study also provides relevant information for designing a plan of action for the selective integrated and targeted control of urinary schistosomiasis in the LGAs

A Class of Product-Type Estimator when there is Unit Non-Response in the Study Variable

COMMUNICATION IN PHYSICAL SCIENCES VOLUME 1(1): 1-6 Fabian C. Okafor We have proposed a class of product-type estimator for the estimation of the population mean when there is unit nonresponse. We are able to show, under a given model, that our estimator is more eficient than the sample mean given by Hansen and Hunvitz (1946). We also established theoretically the condition under which our estimator is more efficient than other particular estimators derivable from the given class of estbnators. It has also been shown that it is better to adjust the auxiliary variablefor non-response even when there is convlete response in the auxiliary variable

Treatment of non-response in successive sampling

Estimators of the population mean have been presented for sampling on two successive occasions when there is non-response in the sample. These estimators have been derived using the Hansen and Hurwitz (1946) procedure for treating non-response. The estimators were found to be more efficient than the Hansen-Hurwitz estimator

Treatment of unit non-response in two-stage sampling with partial replacement of units

Three separate estimators, for the estimation of the population total, based on two-stage sampling design on two successive occasions with partial replacement of secondary stage units only have been presented. For these estimators it is assumed that there is unit non-response. Hence, Hansen and Hurwitz (1946) technique has been used to adjust for the non-response. Empirically, it has been found that the estimator that uses individual weights within first stage units perform better than the other estimators that use common weights in estimating the population total. Theoretically, it has also been shown that the larger the ratio of the within first stage unit variability of the non-respondents to the between first stage unit variability the higher the gain in efficiency of the proposed estimators over the estimator obtained when there is no partial matching of units

The theory and application of sampling over two occasions for the estimation of current population ratio

Some estimators of the population ratio have been proposed for sampling on two successive occasion. These estimators are constructed using ratio, product, difference-cum-ratio and difference-cum-product method of estimation. Their performances are compared empirically with the ordinary ratio estimator. It is found that, for certain values of the correlation coefficient, the proposed estimators perform better than the ordinary ratio estimator

A Class of Ratio-Type Estimator Using Two Auxiliary Variables for Estimating The Population Mean With Some Known Population Parameters

In this paper, we have suggested a class of ratio type estimators with a linear combination using two auxiliary variables with some known population mean of the study variable. The bias and the mean square error of the proposed estimators are derived. We identified sub-members of the class of ratio type estimators. The condition for which the the proposed the proposed estimators perform better than the sample mean per unit, Olkin (1958) multivariate ratio, classical linear regression estimator, Singh(1965), Mohanty (1967) and Swain (2012) are derived. From the analysis, it is observed that the proposed estimators perform better than the sample mean per unit and other existing ratio type estimators considered in this study

Current Appraisal of Socio-Economic Factors Associated with Intestinal Helminth Infections in South-Eastern Nigeria

A cross-sectional study was carried out to assess the current status of intestinal helminth infections and the associations between selected socio-economic variables and helminthosis among school children less than twenty years old in five rural communities in Southeastern, Nigeria. A total of 3000 school children randomly selected from the study communities were enrolled for the study. Data collection involved the use of Kato Katz for microscopic examination of stool samples, semi-structured questionnaires and focal group discussion (FGDs). T-test was used to to determine the association of socoi-economic variables and intestinal helminthosis.The overall prevalence of intestinal helminth infections was 60.4%. The intestinal helminthes isolated included hookworm (29.1%), Ascaris lumbricoides (22.1%), Trichuris trichiura (4.6%), Strongyloides stercoralis (2.4%), Taenia spp (1.1%) and Diphyllobothrium latum (1.1%). Hookworm (29.1%) was the most predominant helminth. Males were more infected (61.1%) than females (59.6%).&nbsp; Individuals aged 3-5 years old had the highest prevalence (75.4%) of intestinal helminth infections. Factors that were significantly associated with the risk of acquisition of the infections included age of the school children, type of toilet facility, source of water, level of education, occupation, housecrowding, hygiene habits. Conscientious personal cleanliness, proper sanitation and controlled good water supplies would be useful for effective control