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Study on the prevalence of Soil-Transmitted Helminths (STHs) was carried out between August 2013 and March
2014 among pupils aged 4-17 years from five public primary schools in Ife East Local Government Area of Ile Ife,
Osun State, Nigeria. Stool samples were collected from 395 pupils and examined for helminth eggs using modified
Kato-Katz technique. Helmnth eggs were detected in 234 pupils (59.2%). Among the 186 males, 56.5%were
positive while 61.7% of 209 females were infected although the difference in the rates between the two sexes was
not significant (P?0.05). Eggs of three helminths, Ascaris lumbricoides (Linnaeus, 1758), Trichuris trichiura
(Morgani, 1740) and hookworms (Dubini, 1838) were observed with prevalences of 44.8% 14.9% and 19.5%
respectively. Prevalence of A. lumbricoides among the female pupils (46.5%) was not significantly different from
prevalence among the males (42.5%) (P?0.05). Prevalence increased from 31.1% among the lowest age group 4-5
years to a peak of 50.5% in age group 8-9 years and decline to 31.3% at 13-14 years age group. There was no
significant difference in prevalence by age among the pupils (P?0.05). Prevalences of T. trichiura and hookworms
among the sexes were not statistically different (P?0.05). The mean intensities of A. lumbricoides, T. trichiura and
hookworm were 4446.42±615.028, 232.89±59.831 and 309.08±58.029 Epg respectively however there were no
statistical different with respect to sex and age among the pupils examined. Concurrent infection with two or all of
the three worms were encountered in some of the pupils. The major predisposing factors to A. lumbricoides
infections among the children were the pupils’ parent’s occupation, hand washing habit after visiting toilet and type
of toilet used by the pupils.
Keywords: Soil-transmitted helminths, epidemiology, prevalence, Ascaris lumbricoides, Nigeria