Urine heme dipsticks are useful in monitoring the impact of Praziquantel treatment on Schistosoma haematobium in sentinel communities of Delta State, Nigeria

Nigeria is highly endemic for infection with Schistosoma haematobium, which most commonly manifests itself with blood in urine. To monitor the impact of annual mass drug administration (MDA) with Praziquantel for S. haematobium in Delta State, Nigeria, cross-sectional hematuria surveys of school children were conducted in 8 sentinel villages (SVs) at baseline (n = 240) and after two annual doses (n = 402). We assessed the comparability of three assessments of hematuria (childʹs reported history, nurse visual diagnosis (NVD) and dipstick) to determine the need for mass treatment. Dipstick was considered to be the gold standard. Prior to treatment, history and NVD each identified only the 3 most highly prevalent SVs, and overall this represented just 37.5% of the 8 SVs in need of treatment. Following treatment, after dipstick prevalence decreased by 88.5% (p < 0.001), and history and NVD identified only one of two villages still needing treatment. The study suggests that dipsticks should be the recommended method for launching and monitoring mass treatment for S. haematobium.