Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of urinary schistosomiasis in school children in a rural village of Northern Senegal, and to evaluate the impact of this parasitic infection on children's health, growth, and nutritional status.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out on 465 children resident in the village of Kassak Nord, in Senegal, in an area which is highly endemic for Schistosoma haematobium. Data on health, nutritional status and urinary schistosomiasis were collected.
Results: The overall prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis in school children in Kassak was 47.4%. As for malnutrition, 29.7% of children were malnourished (BMI-for-age Z-score [BAZ] <-2) and 14.5% had a significant linear growth retardation (height-for-age Z-score [HAZ] <-2). Children with urinary schistosomiasis showed lower mean BAZ and HAZ than uninfected children (HAZ positives -0.7±1.4 vs. HAZ negatives -0.4±1.4, P=0.004; BAZ positives -1.5±1 vs. BAZ negatives -1.3±1.1, P=0.03). It was also found that infected children were at greater risk of malnutrition (BAZ<-2; OR 1.5; 95% CI 1.01-2.26).
Conclusions: The results of this study support the hypothesis that urinary schistosomiasis affects negatively childhood health and nutritional status and are of importance for planning intervention aimed to monitoring and control Urinary Schistosomiasis and malnutrition.