STM Article Repository

Over 650 million people globally are at risk of infection with Schistosomiasis, with more than 200 million people infected, and higher disease rates occur in children.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the Molecular diagnostic method with different diagnostic methods (urine filtration, haematuria ultrasound).
Methods: Eighty three students of Quran School for boys in Radwan village, Gezira state were recruited. The mean age was 12.45±3.2 with a range between 6-20 years. Urine samples were collected. Different diagnostic methods were used. DNA was extracted from the eggs. Polymerase Chain Reaction was done for all samples.
Results: Fifty-four percent of the cases were positive with urine filtration method, of whom microhaematuria was seen in 28%, while 61.4% were positive by ultrasound. Using polymerase chain reaction 73.3% of the samples were positive for Schistosoma haematobium. The comparison between the different diagnostic methods and gold standard urine filtration techniques showed that haematuria had a sensitivity of 42.2% and specificity of 89.4% with a significant association, (P<0.05). No, significant difference was found with ultrasound (P>0.05) which had a sensitivity of 71% and specificity of 50%, while PCR showed a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 60.5%, showing a significant association between PCR and filtration techniques.
Conclusion: The study concluded that PCR was 100% sensitivite, while microhaematuria method was highly specific 89%. Ultrasound had alower specificity as compared with other diagnostic tests. It is recommended that different diagnostic techniques should be applied according to the situation of the disease.