STM Article Repository

An epidemiological survey was conducted to determine the Prevalence and associated pre-disposing factors of amoebiasis among school children in Makurdi Metropolis, Benue state, Nigeria. Information on sex, age, location, source of drinking water, occupation of caregivers was retrieved through structured questionnaires. Three hundred and eighty five (385) stool samples were randomly collected and examined from children less than five years of age attending different Hospitals and Schools. Direct wet mount and Formol-ether concentration technique were adopted. Findings were subject to Chi-square analysis at P= 0.05. Findings revealed that a total of 8.31% children were infected with amoebiasis. Age related prevalence of infection showed the highest rate among children of 49-60 months (19.2%) and lowest among children of <12 months (1.5%; p<0.05). The males showed the highest prevalence (14.1%) than the females (8.46%) without a significant differences (p>0.05). Location related prevalence showed that the infection rate in Wadata was highest (18.4%), and the lowest prevalence was at High-Level (4.5%; p<0.05). Distribution of Entamoeba histolytica infection based on the major sources of drinking water showed that subjects who depended on tank reservoir as their major source of drinking water recorded the highest prevalence (18.8%), while those that drank packet water recorded no case of infection (p<0.05). Occupational prevalence showed that infection rate was highest among children whose caregivers were traders (13.5%), followed by farmers (9.6%), while civil servants showed the lowest prevalence of infection (9.0%; p>0.05). Increased health education, awareness creation, and provision of essential amenities for the children and their caregivers will go a long way in mitigating the present scenario.