Journal of Blood Disorders & Transfusion

The prevalence of anemia among school age children infected with Schistosoma mansoni in Ethiopia

2^nd International Conference on Hematology & Blood Disorders

September 29-October 01, 2014 DoubleTree by Hilton Baltimore-BWI Airport, USA

Zinaye Tekeste

Accepted Abstracts: J Blood Disorders Transf

Abstract:

The study was conducted to assess the prevalence of anaemia among school age children infected with Schistosoma mansoni ( S. mansoni ) in Northwest Ethiopia. School based cross sectional study was conducted from April 30, 2013 to June 30, 2013. Stool and blood samples were collected from 410 school age children. S. mansoni infection was determined using wet mount and Kato?Katz technique and hemoglobin concentration was measured by portable HemocueTM device (hemoglobinometer, Angelholm, Sweden). The prevalence of S. mansoni was 74.1%. Out of the 410 children examined, 12.43% were anaemic. Mean hemoglobin concentration was significantly lower among children infected with S. mansoni compared to those who were not (P<0.05). The difference in haemoglobin concentration was significant among children with light (mean 14.36 (?1.6 SD) g/dl), moderate (mean 13.71 (?1.5 SD) g/dl) and heavy intensity of infection (mean 13.87 (?1.7 SD) g/dl) (P<0.05). Furthermore, the level of hemoglobin was negatively correlated with intensity of S. mansoni infection (r=-0.6). The findings of this study demonstrated high prevalence of anaemia among school age children infected with S. mansoni in Northwest Ethiopia. Therefore, there is a need to design strategies that help to diagnose school age children for anaemia instead of testing for only S. mansoni infection.

Biography :

Zinaye Tekeste is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Science. He got his BSc in Microbiology and Parasitology from Jimma University and MSc in Biomedical Sciences from Addis Ababa University. He has published more than 16 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an Editorial Board Member of repute. Currently his researches focus on infectious diseases and anemia.