Community-based prevalence, intensity and risk factors associated with soil-transmitted helminthiases and intestinal schistosomiasis in Apojola, Ogun state, southwest Nigeria.

Background: Soil-transmitted helminthiases (STH) and schistosomiasis are parasitic neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) of significant public health importance globally, including Nigeria. Urogenital schistosomiasis is highly endemic in Apojola, a rural community in Ogun State, southwest Nigeria, but data on STH and intestinal schistosomiasis in the neglected community are lacking.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence and intensity of STH and intestinal schistosomiasis and the risk factors associated with the infections in Apojola.

Methods: The study was community-based and cross-sectional. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain information on socio-demographic, personal, and household WASH characteristics of the study population. Stool samples were collected and processed for parasitological examination using the triplicate Kato-Katz (K-K) smears.

Results: A total of 283 individuals (males, 50.2%; females, 49.8%) aged 3 to 65 years (mean age ± S.D.: 19.6 ± 14.8 years) participated in the study. No case of intestinal schistosomiasis was recorded in the study, while the overall prevalence of any STH was 38.2%: A. lumbricoides (24.0%) and hookworms (25.8%). Prevalence of infection was not significantly different between males and females for any STH (40.1% vs. 36.2%, χ² = 0.473, p = 0.492); A. lumbricoides (23.2% vs. 22.7%, χ² = 0.012, p = 0.913); or hookworms (28.2% vs. 23.4%; p = 0.360; χ² = 0.839), but significantly varied with age for any STH (χ² = 22.225, p = 0.002); A. lumbricoides (χ² = 16.354, p = 0.022); or hookworms (χ² = 20.001, p = 0.006). The intensity of infection was neither associated with gender nor age and was mostly light. Walking barefoot, toilet type (absent/bush), and irregular washing of fruits and/or vegetables before consumption were significantly associated with STH.

Conclusion: Our data indicate that intestinal schistosomiasis is not prevalent in Apojola and that the community is a moderate-risk area for STH. Hence, the current annual preventive chemotherapy for STH (PC STH) with albendazole or mebendazole in school-aged children (SAC) through the school-based delivery programme should be extended to non-enrolled SAC and pre-SAC using other delivery platforms. This should be complemented with regular and effective health education campaigns as well as water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH)-related interventions.