Prevalence of Intestinal Amoebiasis in School Age Children in Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Amoebiasis has a worldwide distribution. It causes death, impairs the physical, mental and intellectual development thereby exerting tremendous impact on productivity of individuals especially the youngsters. This study determined the prevalence of amoebiasis in school age children in Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria. One hundred and twenty (120) stool samples were examined for the cysts and/or trophozoites of Entamoeba histolytica using the direct smear and formol/ether concentration techniques. Thirty two (26.7%) of the samples were found to be positive for the parasite. The highest prevalence of 40.0% was recorded among children from Government Secondary School Tudun Kauri. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) between the prevalence of amoebiasis among children examined from the various schools. Children within the age group of 6 -10 years old had the highest rate (31.%) of infection. Males (27.7%) were more infected than females (24.3%) proportionately. Pre-secondary school children had the least rate (16.7%) of infection as compared with those in secondary schools (20%). Improved sanitation, personal hygiene and deliberate policy for regular deworming of school age children by the government will decrease the rate of intestinal parasitic infections.