Abstract:
Objective: To determined both prevalence and intensity of Schistosoma mansoni infections among schoolchildren
attending primary schools in Jimma town, an urban setting, Southwest, Ethiopia.
Results: The prevalence of S. mansoni infections was 8.4%. S. mansoni infections were found in all 17 schools, but
the school prevalence ranged from 1.7 to 26.7%. This variation in prevalence could be explained by the proximity of
the schools to the river crossing the town and water bodies near the schools. Boys were more infected compared
to girls (χ
2 = 31.587, P value = 0.001; 95% CI), and the infection rate increased as a function of age (χ
2 = 21.187; P
value = 0.001; 95 %CI). The majority of the infection intensities were of low intensity (57%), the mean number of eggs
per stool equal to 17 eggs per gram of stool. Based on the prevalence (8.4%) school children in Jimma Town is considered as a low risk of morbidity caused by S. mansoni (prevalence ≤ 10% according to WHO threshold), for which it
is recommended to implement MDA once every 3 years which should be supplemented with health information to
create awareness about Schistosomiasis transmission. Male students were more infected than females with majority
of the infection intensity were low
