Prevalence of asymptomatic malaria infection and use of different malaria control measures among primary school children in Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania.

Background: Malaria is a public health problem in Tanzania affecting all age groups. It is known that school children are the age group most commonly infected with malaria parasites. Their infections are usually asymptomatic, go unnoticed and thus never get treated, result in anaemia, reduced ability to concentrate and learn in school and if fallen sick may lead to school absenteeism.

Age and gender effects in self-reported urinary schistosomiasis in Tanzania.

Objectives: To characterize age-gender prevalence profiles of urinary schistosomiasis according to the questionnaire responses, compare the profiles to field survey data from selected regions, and determine if the profiles varied spatially throughout Tanzania.

Methods: In 2004, a national school-based questionnaire survey for self-reported schistosomiasis and blood in urine (BIU) was conducted in all regions of mainland Tanzania, to assist targeted mass distribution of praziquantel. Field survey data were collected in six north-western and five coastal regions using microscopic examination of urine samples for the presence of Schistosoma haematobium eggs and assessment of micro-haematuria with chemical reagent strips.

Ill-health reported by schoolchildren during questionnaire surveys in Ghana, Mozambique and Tanzania.

Background: Insufficient attention has been paid to the health problems of school-age children in sub-Saharan Africa. A questionnaire administered to schoolchildren about their ill-health has been developed to identify schools in which urinary schistosomiasis occurs. The data collected during the interviews can also be used to assess other common health problems.