[Bladder schistosomiasis in school children; random study in the Ketu district, Ghana]

In 2 periods 1986/'87 and 1987/'88 1193 school children (5-19 years) from 13 randomly selected villages in the Ketu district, Ghana, were examined for Schistosoma haematobium (SH) in the urine. For the egg count the quantitative urine filtration technique was used and besides 3 indirect indicators of SH infection were evaluated. An arbitrary division was made into areas of high and low endemicity, showing SH prevalence rates of 54.3-23.0% and 2.3-16.0%, respectively. The condition of the "dams' in the different areas seemed to influence the infection rates. For all areas both prevalence and intensity of infection were both higher in boys than in girls. In the area of high endemicity it was possible to detect 99% of the heavily infected children (greater than or equal to 100 eggs/10 ml urine) by using the 3 indirect indicators combined.