A review of intestinal helminthiasis in ethiopian school children and the needed efforts for school-based intervention

Ethiopia is one of the most populous countries in Africa. This huge population, coupled with the absence of basic social amenities, auspicious climatic environment, and weak public health infrastructure favor the transmission of intestinal helminthiasis. Understanding the prevalence of intestinal helminth infections is necessary to plan control strategies and focus on highly endemic regions for preventive chemotherapy and improved sanitation facilities. This paper reviewed the prevalence of intestinal helminthiasis among schoolchildren, associated risk factorsand recommended control effortsin Ethiopia. To achieve this based on PRISMA guidelines a systematic search ofpublished literature was carried out from the year 2000 to 2017.A careful screening of the identified literature yielded 28 studies that reported the prevalence of at least three intestinal helminths among schoolchildren from 5 different states of Ethiopia.Form the 28 research articles, 22, 21 and 14 research findings reported Hookworm, A. lumbricoides, and S. mansonias one of the three most common intestinal helminths in the study area respectively. A higher than 20% prevalence for Hookworm A. lumbricoidesand S. mansoni was reported from 8 different locations scattered across the country. As WHO recommends School-based mass drug administrationto control intestinal helminth infectionis a feasible and cost-effective control strategy and when it is accompanied with provision of safe water supply, proper usage of latrine, vector control and health educationa long-term impact can be achieved in Ethiopia.