Prevalence of Soil-Transmitted Helminthes among Pupils in Gia and Kajelo Primary Schools in the Kassena-Nankana East and West Districts in the Upper East Region of Ghana.

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2012-08-21
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Soil-Transmitted helminthes is prevalent in many communities in the Kassena-Nankana district of the Upper East Region of Ghana. Gia is one community where the prevalence of soil-transmitted helminthes has been reported in 2007 to be 10% prevalent by the direct wet mount method. This study determined the current prevalence of soil-transmitted helminthes among primary school pupils in Gia and Kajelo communities in the Kassena-Nankana district using direct wet mount and the formol-ether concentration techniques. Three hundred and ninety-four stool samples were collected from subjects (pupils) between October 2010 and March 2011 for this study. Each stool sample was processed within two hours after collection using the direct wet mount and the formol-ether concentration techniques in accordance with standard protocols. Formol-ether concentration technique, gave the highest overall prevalence of 9.40% of helminthes parasites made up of Strongyloides stercoralis (5.08%), Hookworm (3.30%), Ascaris lumbricoides (1.02%) and Trichuris trichuira (0.00%) in both Gia and Kajelo pupils. The direct wet mount was found to be 33.3% sensitive. The Gia primary school had a population of 198 pupils, 6 positives were detected out of the total number sampled representing 3.54% of the stool samples that were detected by the direct wet mount method. The formol-ether concentration detected 21 positives of the total number sampled representing 10.61%. The Kajelo primary school had a population of 196, 5 positives were detected out of the total number sampled giving a prevalence of 2.55% with the direct wet mount method. The formol-ether concentration detected 16 positives out of the total number sampled giving a prevalence of 8.16%. This study supports the finding that stool samples that are negative for parasites by the direct wet mount method should be re-examined using the formol-ether concentration technique as the confirmatory test. This approach will improve the detection of helminthes from stool specimens for accurate diagnosis of soil-transmitted helminthes infections and ultimately improve the quality of life of individuals in these communities.
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A thesis submitted to the Department of Clinical Microbiology, School of Medical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Clinical Microbiology,
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