Validation of reagent sticks in diagnosing urinary schistosomiasis in an urban setting

In view of the established potential of reagent sticks for detecting haematuria, a pilot survey to validate their use in the diagnosis of urinary schistosomiasis in an urban setting was done at Kinyerezi primary school of Ilala district in Dar es salaam. From 404 pupils screened for the disease, 273 were positive for the eggs by microscopy (filtration method), giving a prevalence of 67.6% and 253 (92.6%) of those who were positive by microscopy were also positive for haematuria by reagent sticks. Out of 131 who had no disease, 113 (86.2%) were negative for haematuria by the reagent sticks. These findings indicate a high sensitivity and specificity of microhaematuria by the reagent sticks (92.6% and 86.2%) respectively. Taking microscopy as a standard test, macrohaematuria had a sensitivity and specificity of 40.6% and 90% respectively, for urinary schistosomiasis. The accuracy of microhaematuria by reagent sticks was 90% compared to macrohaematuria which was only 56.6%. The use of reagent sticks test in detecting microhaematuria is thus recommended as a valid and rapid diagnostic test for urinary schistosomiasis in the present setting.