Urinary Schistosomiasis Prevalence and Diagnostic Performance of Reagent Strip at Point-of-Care

Abstract

Due to limited resources and experience, rapid diagnostic techniques are advocated in nations with a resource shortage when diagnosing schistosomiasis. We used rapid diagnostic tests to access the prevalence and intensity of schistosome infection in North Central, Nigeria. A total of 1951 participants were recruited for this study. The participants were screened for S. haematobium infection; haematuria and proteinuria were monitored in the recruited patients with a commercial reagent strip. Of the 1951 participants recruited for the study, 587 were found to be infected. Children aged 0 to 10 years showed the highest levels of haematuria with (100%) specificity. Meanwhile, other age groups (11 - 20, 21 - 30, 31 - 40 and above 40 years) had rates higher than 90%. The degree of haematuria increased with egg intensity. The same was seen in proteinuria, with a percentage of 41.9%. A significant difference (p < 0.0001) occurred across the infection categories in this study. The sensitivity of haematuria was highest (73.0%) in 11 - 20 age group, followed by 66.6% in 0 - 10 age group. Generally, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of the reagent strip were 67%, 97%, 89%, and 87% respectively. Although proteinuria’s sensitivity was lower than that of other biomarkers, it outperformed haematuria in terms of specificity. Our research led us to the conclusion that using macrohaematuria in addition to the urine reagent strip test would improve the accuracy of the diagnosis of S. haematobium in rural endemic areas.