How 560,000 children contracted schistosomiasis in Nasarawa – Govt

Over 560,000 school-age children have been infected with schistosomiasis diseases across the 13 local government areas and 18 development areas in Nasarawa State.

Schistosomiasis, better known as snail fever and bilharzia, is a disease caused by parasitic flatworms called schistosomes. The urinary tract or the intestines may be infected. Symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloody stool, or blood in the urine.

This was revealed on Tuesday by the state Commissioner for Health, Ahmed Baba-Yahaya, during a press briefing to mark 2021 World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day in the state.

He said the state government was mindful of its neighbours who were still struggling to prevent such diseases, expressing fear that the risk of re-infecting the state was high due to the inability of Benue, Kogi, Taraba, Kaduna states and the Federal Capital Territory to tackle the dreaded diseases.

Baba-Yahaya added that medicine would be requested and sent to all Primary Healthcare Centres for treatment of affected persons in the state.

He said, “About 560,000 school age children were affected by schistosomiasis and soil transmitted Helminthes in Nasarawa State.

He, however, disclosed that the state government had received no fewer than 199,950 tablets of mebendazole and 850,000 tablets of praziquantel from the Federal Ministry of Health for treatment of school age children in public and private primary and junior secondary schools in the state.