Recovery of Schistosoma Haematobium Eggsin Venous Blood Collected For Diagnosis of Wuchereria Bancrofti Infection

Abstract

The Kenyan coast has long been known as an endemic area for schistosomiasis caused by Schistosoma haematobium. Shimada et al.(1987), for example, found that 68·2% of the subjects they studied in Mwachinga village, Kwale District, Kenya, had the disease, and gross haematuria is common in the local school children. In this area, S. haematobium co-exists with several other parasites of man, including Wuchereria bancrofii, which is endemic in most of the warm and humid areas of East Africa. Infection rates with the nematode seem to vary considerably with the endemic focus studied. In the most affected foci in Coastal Province, Kenya, 28·4%-56% of males aged > 14 years were found to carry microfilariae (mff) (Wijers, 1977). Estambale et al. ( 1994) found an overall prevalence of 13·7% in Vanga-Lunga Lunga Location in Kwale District, Kenya.