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

BACKGROUND The pathology of Schistosoma haematobium infection in 60 infected primary school children in Agulu community, Anambra State, southeast Nigeria, with over 50 ova/10 ml urine was assessed. METHODS 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. RESULTS The pathologic effects due to S. haematobuim 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). CONCLUSION 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.