Ukash Umer ^* Bayisa Tolera Fitsum Weldegebreal Junedin Abamecha Fikru Tebeje Akewok Sime ^* Jemal Mohammed

• Haramaya University, Harar, Ethiopia

Background: Intestinal schistosomiasis caused by S. mansoni is a common helminthic infection recognized as an important public health problem in tropical and subtropical regions, particularly in SSA, including Ethiopia. The disease is highly prevalent among school children with emerging data showing that this population groups are infected and carries heavy infection intensities. However, there was no prior data on this infection's extent, intensity, and predisposing factors in the current study area. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the prevalence, intensity, and associated factors of intestinal schistosomiasis among primary school children in Nono district, southwest Ethiopia.: School-based cross-sectional study was conducted from January 20 to February 20, 2024, with 338 randomly selected primary school children. Data on sociodemographic and potential predisposing factors were collected using a structured questionnaire. Five grams of stool samples were collected and processed using the Kato-Katz technique. Data was entered into Epi-data version 3.1 and then exported to SPSS version 26 for analysis. Binary logistic regression analyses were carried out to examine the associations between dependent and independent variables. A P-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: In this study, only 21.5% of participants were infected with S. mansoni (95%CI: 11.77, 32.47). Children who had no habit of wearing shoes (AOR=3.27, 95%CI: 2.04, 8.47), had open defecation practice at school (AOR=1.21, 95%CI: 1.02, 3.58), children who used river water for drinking purpose (AOR), children from families who had no latrine at home (AOR=8.14, 95%CI:4.03,10.94), children who had bathing habit in open water source (AOR=5.29, 95%CI:3.01, 11.49) and did not know the possible modes of transmission (AOR=1.15, 95%CI: 1.04, 3.27) were significantly associated with intestinal schistosomiasis. Conclusion: The prevalence of S. mansoni infection in this study was medium according to the WHO (2022) classification. Factors like having no habit of wearing shoes, using river for drinking, having open defecation practice at school and home, bathing in open water sources, and not knowing the possible modes of transmission aggravated the occurrence of intestinal schistosomiasis. Therefore, health education should be given to children on the importance of wearing shoes, improving water sources, and environmental sanitation to alleviate the problem.