Blaasschistosomiasis bij schoolkinderen; keuze-onderzoek in het Ketu-district, Ghana

- In 2 periods 1986‘87 and 1987’88 1193 school children (5-19 years) from 13 randomly selected villages in the Ketu district, Ghana, were examined for Schistosoma haemotobium (SH) in the urine. For the egg count the quantitative urine filtration technique was used and besides 3 indirect indicators of SH infection were evaluated.

An arbitrary division was made into areas of high and low endemicity, showing SH prevalence rates of 54.3-23.0 and 2.3-16.0, respectively. The condition of the ‘dams’ in the different areas seemed to influence the infection rates. For all areas both prevalence and intensity of infection were both higher in boys than in girls. In the area of high endemicity it was possible to detect 99 of the heavily infected children (≥ 100 eggs10 ml urine) by using the 3 indirect indicators combined.