Prevalence of Geohelminths Ova in Soils of Selected Public Primary School Premises in Benin City, South-South, Nigeria

Abstract

Geohelminths infection has been increasingly recognized as an important Public Health problem especially in developing countries. Different species of geohelminths infect children in tropical and subtropical parts of the developing world; the commonest are Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, Hookworms and Strongyloides stercoralis. Two hundred and forty soil samples were collected from the premises of eight primary schools in Benin City. In each Primary School, thirty samples of 20g each of top soil were scooped from Classrooms, Toilet areas and Playground into polythene bags for analysis. Floatation method was adopted with saturated sodium chloride (NaCl) solution for the detection of geohelminths ova. The overall prevalence of geohelminths ova was 62(25.8%). Ascaris lumbricoides had the highest prevalence 51(60.7%), T. trichiura 12(14.3%), Hookworm 16(19%) and S. stercoralis 6(7.1%). The prevalence of ova regarding sample sites was: Playground, 12(14.3%), Toilet area 46(54.7%), Classroom area 26(30.90%). The distribution of ova in soil with respect to schools was; Estate Primary School 7(23.3%), Ekosodin Primary School 7(23.3%), Ugbowo Primary School 7(23.3%), Olua Primary School 8(26.7%), Idunowina Primary School 9(30.0%), Edaiken Primary School 11(36.7%), Okhoro Primary School 6(20.05) and Isiohor Primary School 9(30.0%). The results revealed a significant difference (p<0.05) in the prevalence of geohelminths ova in the various sites. The toilet area had the highest prevalence while the playground recorded the lowest. Therefore, there is need for proper sanitation in these locations especially the toilet areas.