Haematological Profile and Intensity of Urogenital Schistosomiasis in Ghanaian Children.

Background: Urogenital schistosomiasis is a widely contracted parasitic helminth infection often associated with haematological abnormalities.

Aim: We investigated the relationship between the haematological profile and the intensity of schistosomiasis among children in the Yeji district.

Materials And Methods: A total of 100 participants comprising 50 () infected and 50 noninfected controls aged 6-17 years matched for age and sex were recruited into the study. Blood and urine samples were collected and haematological profile and presence of eggs were assessed using standard protocols.

Results: Haemoglobin (HGB) ( < 0.0001), haematocrit (HCT) ( < 0.0001), mean cell volume (MCV) ( = 0.0053), mean cell haemoglobin (MCH) ( < 0.0001), and mean cell haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) ( = 0.005) levels were reduced in cases compared to controls. Mixed cell percentage (MXD) ( = 0.018) and red blood cell distribution width (RDW-CV) ( = 0.012) were significantly elevated among cases as compared to controls. Haematuria was a clinical characteristic of heavy infection.

Conclusion: infection creates an imbalance in the haematological profile. We found low HGB, HCT, MCV, MCH, and MCHC levels coupled with increased % MXD count and RDW-CV. Also, low MCV, MCH, and MCHC and high % MXD count are independently associated with infection among our study participants.