Prevalence of Faecal Occult Blood in Primary School Children in Aba South Local Government Area of Abia State, Nigeria

Faecal occult blood is a laboratory test which looks for the presence of microscopic blood in faeces possibly as a result of gastrointestinal bleeding which may be an indication of a disease. Several large prospective randomized controlled studies have shown that faecal occult blood test (FOBT) plays an important role as a secondary preventive measure against certain diseases like gastric or duodenal ulcer, ulcerative colitis, parasitic and bacterial infections etc. Occult bleeding itself is not a disease but might be a symptom of various disease conditions. It can be performed on mailed specimens without a health center visit. A study on the prevalence of faecal occult blood among primary school children aged 7-15 years was investigated in Aba South Local Government Area (LGA) of Abia State, Nigeria between July and December, 2016. Faecal samples were collected from three (3) major primary schools in the Local Government Area and analyzed for faecal occult blood using iFOBT (One Step FOB Rapid Screen Test by CIC Pharm., UK). This test has advantages of greater clinical and analytical sensitivity, collection of a single sample, simple and hygienic sampling devices, higher specificity for lower gastrointestinal tract bleeding, no dietary restriction and results in improved clinical performance and higher participation rates in screenings. Out of 400 samples collected, consisting of 232 (58.0%) males and 168 (42.0%) females, 58 (14.5%) were positive for faecal occult blood, which is an indication of either gastric, ulcerative colitis, parasitic or bacterial infections. The males (16.8%) were affected more than the female (11.3%) while ages 7-9 years were most affected. The study also showed that children whose parents are traders had the highest prevalence of 27.5% compared to the children whose parents are civil servants (13.3%). Based on schools, Etche Road Primary School had the highest prevalence (19.5%) while the least was Constitution Primary School (11.2%). Statistical analysis had shown that age group, occupation of parents and the location of school have significant effect on prevalence of faecal occult blood. Early screening of occult blood is recommended in order to detect any possible trace of hidden blood in the stool samples of school children which could be as a result of parasitic or bacterial infection.