Research Article Intestinal Schistosomiasis among Primary Schoolchildren in Two On-Shore Communities in Rorya District, Northwestern Tanzania: Prevalence, Intensity of Infection and Associated Risk Factors David Z. Munisi, 1,2 Joram Buza, 1 Emmanuel A. Mpolya, 1 and Safari M. Kinung’hi 3 1 Department of Global Health and Biomedical Sciences, School of Life Sciences and Bioengineering, Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 447, Arusha, Tanzania 2 Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine and Dentistry, College of Health Sciences, University of Dodoma, P.O. Box 259, Dodoma, Tanzania 3 National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), Mwanza Research Centre, Isamilo Road, P.O. Box 1462, Mwanza, Tanzania Correspondence should be addressed to David Z. Munisi; munisid@nm-aist.ac.tz Received 14 July 2016; Accepted 15 September 2016 Academic Editor: Emmanuel Serrano Ferron Copyright © 2016 David Z. Munisi et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. In Tanzania, Schistosoma mansoni is of great public health importance. Understanding the prevalence and infection intensity is important for targeted, evidence-based control strategies. Tis study aimed at studying the prevalence, intensity, and risk factors of S. mansoni among schoolchildren in the study area. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Busanga and Kibuyi villages. Sampled 513 schoolchildren provided stool specimens which were examined using kato-katz method. Pretested questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic data and associated risk factors. Te prevalence of S. mansoni infection was 84.01%, with geometric mean egg intensity of 167.13 (95% CI: 147.19–189.79) eggs per gram of stool (epg). Other parasites detected were Ascaris lumbricoides (1.4%) and hookworms (1.4%). Te geometric mean infection intensity in Busanga and Kibuyi were 203.70 (95% CI: 169.67–244.56) and 135.98 (95% CI: 114.33–161.73) epg, respectively. Light, moderate, and heavy infection intensities were 34.11%, 39.91%, and 25.99%, respectively. Village of residence, parent’s level of education, toilet use, and treatment history were predictors of infection. Te high prevalence and infection intensity in this study were associated with village, parent’s level of education, inconsistent toilet use, and treatment history. To control the disease among at-risk groups, these factors need to be considered in designing integrated schistosomiasis control interventions. 1. Background Schistosomiasis is a chronic and debilitating disease caused by a waterborne digenetic trematode of the genus Schistosoma [1]. Te disease is one of the most widespread parasitic infections in tropical and subtropical countries where it ranks second to malaria in terms of its socioeconomic and public health signifcance [2]. In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) two Schistosoma species are the main cause of schistosomiasis. Tese are S. mansoni and S. haematobium that cause intestinal and urinary schistosomi- asis, respectively. Te region harbours 93% of the world’s 207 million estimated cases of schistosomiasis [3, 4]. Te disease causes high morbidity and considerable mortality in many endemic areas where children tends to be mostly afected [5]. Schistosomiasis owes its clinical signifcance from its tendency to slowly damage host organs due to granuloma formation around eggs trapped in tissues, resulting in devel- opment of chronic infammation and fbrosis in the liver and spleen causing hepatosplenomegaly that leads to severe portal hypertension, ascites, gastroesophageal varices, gastrointesti- nal bleeding, cancer, and death [6, 7]. Despite the serious health impact resulting from these infections and their pre- dominance in areas of poverty, their geographical distribu- tion especially in rural areas of SSA remains incompletely studied [8, 9]. Hindawi Publishing Corporation Journal of Parasitology Research Volume 2016, Article ID 1859737, 11 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/1859737