Prevalence of Worm Infestation and Associated Risk Factors among Rural and Urban Lower Primary School Going Children in Kasama District, Northern Province, Zambia

Regardless of the many health promotion communications and public health interventions that the Government of the Republic of Zambia continues to provide to its citizens via the Ministry of Health that are directed at the prevention and reduction of worm infestation in Kasama District, Northern Province of Zambia, a lot of lower primary school going children still continue to miss school attendance in order to access health services due to worm infestation cases which have continued to be on the increase in both rural and urban areas. The high levels of poverty and other related risk factors in such resource-limited areas have put many of these children at increased risk of worm infestation. Thus, this study investigated the relationship between those risk factors and the prevalence of worm infestation in both rural and urban areas with respect to area of residency of the children. The study used retrospective quantitative methods in eliciting information from data sources from six health facilities in Northern Province covering a 2year period (2018-2020). Consequently, 120 children were identified and included in the study. Thereafter, data were analyzed using a statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS v19). Findings indicate; low socio-economic status and areas of residency were the main contributing risk factors in rural than urban areas. Therefore, recommendations on the country’s policies towards mass deworming programs and basic hygiene in lower primary school going children were availed to government after completing the study. Keywords: Residency, Primary School Children, Prevalence, Worm Infestations, Zambia.