Trachoma in School Going Children at District Bahawalpur, Pakistan: Incidence and Causes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47067/real.v1i1.4Keywords:
Trachoma, Blindness, Tropical Diseases, Vision Loss, ChildrenAbstract
This study is a pilot collaborative effort between academic and clinical sectors for exploring the incidence of trachoma among school going children in Pakistan ranging from 4-18 years olds from January to June 2019. A three-stage random sampling technique was employed. At stage one, out of five; two tehsils of District Bahawalpur were selected. In the second stage, four union councils from two selected tehsils were selected randomly. In the third and final stage of random sampling, two government schools from each union council were randomly selected from selected union councils. In each school, all willing students wanting a free eye check-up were entertained for initial screening. Anyone having complains regarding eye irritation, redness, watering, pain or vision loss symptoms were screened for trachoma. Out of 16 selected Government schools, seventeen hundred and thirty seven (n=5737) participants were selected ranging from 4 to18 years olds. Data were analyzed using Eviews 7.0. Trachoma was observed in total of 169 cases (74 male, 95 female). 2.94% overall trachoma prevalence was seen (2.39% for male students and 3.59% for females). Female children suffered from higher prevalence of trachoma (1.20%).
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