{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]],"date-time":"2026-08-20T16:05:10Z","timestamp":1787241910687,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,8]],"date-time":"2025-12-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1765152000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100021310","name":"Nigerian Institute of Medical Research","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["0000134"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["0000134"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100021310","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    <jats:italic>Helicobacter pylori<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic>Schistosoma mansoni<\/jats:italic>\n                    are two important pathogens that infect the gastrointestinal tract, could be acquired earlier in childhood, and can remain asymptomatic for a long period. While\n                    <jats:italic>S. mansoni<\/jats:italic>\n                    is been controlled within routine primary healthcare program, there are no control guidelines for\n                    <jats:italic>H. pylori.<\/jats:italic>\n                    Here, we investigate the co-infection pattern of both pathogens to support improvement of management strategies. Fresh stool samples were obtained from 299 school-aged children between ages 6\u201317 years and analyzed using real-time and conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the direct detection of\n                    <jats:italic>S. mansoni<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic>H. pylori<\/jats:italic>\n                    respectively. An overall prevalence of 19.7% (4.5% \u2212 24.1%) was recorded for\n                    <jats:italic>H. pylori<\/jats:italic>\n                    , and 34.4% (0% \u2212 42.1%) for\n                    <jats:italic>S. mansoni,<\/jats:italic>\n                    while co-infection of both was 7.0% (0% \u2212 8.1%). Infections were significantly different across the study communities for\n                    <jats:italic>S. mansoni<\/jats:italic>\n                    (p\u2009=\u20090.00) when compared to\n                    <jats:italic>H. pylori<\/jats:italic>\n                    (p\u2009=\u20090.38). There were, however, no significant association between infection and gender (p\u2009&gt;\u20090.05), with the following odds of infection for\n                    <jats:italic>S. mansoni<\/jats:italic>\n                    (OR=0.69, 95% CI: 0.42, 1.12),\n                    <jats:italic>H. pylori<\/jats:italic>\n                    (OR=1.33, 95% CI: 0.75, 2.36), and combination of both infections (OR=1.31, 95% CI: 0.83, 2.09). By age category, children below 14years were twice likely to be exposed to the combination of both infections; age 12\u201314 years (OR=1.9, 95% CI: 1.06, 3.44), and age 9\u201311 years (OR=1.96, 95% CI: 1.11, 3.48). But they were also less likely to be exposed to\n                    <jats:italic>S. mansoni<\/jats:italic>\n                    ; age 12\u201314 years (OR=0.52, 95% CI: 0.27, 0.97), and age 9\u201311 years (OR=0.43, 95% CI: 0.23, 0.79). Our study highlights an unexpectedly high prevalence of\n                    <jats:italic>S. mansoni<\/jats:italic>\n                    , moderate prevalence of H.\n                    <jats:italic>pylori<\/jats:italic>\n                    , and very low coinfection prevalence for both. Our findings on\n                    <jats:italic>S. mansoni<\/jats:italic>\n                    are particularly concerning, suggesting potential challenges in control programs. It is therefore important to consider integrated interventions, including chemotherapy and improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0337423","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,8]],"date-time":"2025-12-08T18:25:08Z","timestamp":1765218308000},"page":"e0337423","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Co-infections of Schistosoma mansoni and Helicobacter pylori in school-aged populations and implication for management and control practices in Niger State, Nigeria"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"20","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7140-2689","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Muinah","family":"Fowora","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Babatunde","family":"Adewale","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7330-2892","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Hammed","family":"Mogaji","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ibilola","family":"Omolopo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Balogun","family":"Daniel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Abdulrahman","family":"Aladejana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"De\u2019Broski R.","family":"Herbert","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0337423.ref001","volume-title":"Ending the neglect to attain the sustainable development goals: a road map for neglected tropical diseases 2021\u20132030","author":"World Health Organization WHO","year":"2020"},{"key":"pone.0337423.ref002","unstructured":"World Health Organization WHO. 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