Prevalence, intensity of infection rate and the associated factors of Schistosoma mansoni in student children at Walame Don Bosco elementary school, Dilla, Ethiopia

Background and Study aim: Schistosoma mansoni is one of the three major species which cause schistosomiasis in humans. Female worms of S. mansoni deposit 190 to 300 eggs daily. Each egg of S. mansoni bears a prominent lateral spine. The key objective of this study was to identify and confirm which species of genus Schistosoma is causing schistosomiasis in student children of Walame Don Bosco elementary school including in those of kindergarten within the same school compound. Patients and Methods: Fresh stool samples of 500 student children were examined under a compound light microscope for the suspected parasitic species of genus Schistosoma. Fresh stool samples of 10 students were examined daily from Monday through Friday. Result: Out of 500 student children examined 102 were found positive for S. mansoni. Conclusion: The possibility that all the hazards mentioned above and the undesirable immunologic reactions against the antigens released from the eggs, of S. mansoni, trapped in tissues of different types & locations of the patient’s body are the potential risks, i.e., morbidity/complications imposed to happen later in life, on the becoming adult stage population of today’s student children infected with S. mansoni in Walame region. Therefore, publically coordinated strong preventive measures must be devised to eradicate S. mansoni infection from the study area.