Epidemiology of Schistosoma haematobioum in Ruruma Location, Kilifi, District, Kenya.

A study of the distribution of S. haematobium in Ruruma Location of Kilifi District, Kenya, was undertaken between December 1988 and June 1990. Schistosomiasis haematobia was found to be highly endemic with prevalence rates of upto 85%. The distribution of prevalences of infection in this location is very varied ranging from 1.6% in the East to 85% in the Southwest. Prevalences of infection were also noted to be lower in those areas closer to the main roads than farther away, a pattern that coincided also with the distribution of piped water in the area. Gross haematuria, observed by naked eye, did not give a similar picture as that of infection prevalences. Certain areas with high infection rates had relatively low levels of haematuria and vice versa. Thus, gross haematuria alone cannot be used (even in a broad sense) to categorize to compare levels of endemicity of S.heaematobium in this area.