The Prevalence of Soil Transmitted Helminthic Infections in pregnancy at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi

Abstract

Background: Soil-transmitted helminths (STH) are a group of multicellular parasites of a man belonging to the phyla Platyhelminthes and nemathelminthes. They are of public health significance as they cause infections in billions of the world population. When there is a heavy burden of infection in pregnant women, they are associated with grave morbidity and mortality in the mothers and their foetus(es). Aims: To determine the prevalence of soil-transmitted helminth infections and their association with anaemia among pregnant women attending antenatal care at ATBUTH, Bauchi. Settings and Design: A hospital-based cross-sectional study involving pregnant women attending antenatal care at ATBUTH, Bauchi. Methods and Material: The respondents were asked to bring freshly passed stool samples in a universal bottle and venous blood samples were collected from all of them at booking after consent was obtained and the specimens were analysed. Statistical analysis used: Simple descriptive statistics were used to analyze background characteristics. Chi-square and student t-tests were used to test for association between Haemoglobin levels and soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections. Results: Of the 354 pregnant women that participated in this study, only 15 of them had STH infections putting the overall prevalence to be 4.2%. Four different helminths were identified, and Hookworm was the most prevalent constituting 60%. The prevalence of anaemia was 125 (35.3%) and there was a statistically significant association between STH infection and anaemia in pregnancy (OR= 2.884, χ2= 4.180, Pvalue= 0.041). Conclusions: The prevalence of STH infection is relatively low and only four different organisms were identified. There was a statistically significant association between STH infections and anaemia among pregnant women attending antenatal care at ATBUTH, Bauchi.