Correction: Prevalence and Risk Factors for Intestinal Protozoan Infections with Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Blastocystis and Dientamoeba among Schoolchildren in Tripoli, Lebanon

Introduction: Intestinal protozoan infections continue to remain a global public health challenge, particularly in developing countries. Since diagnosis of these parasites is difficult, prevalence data on intestinal protozoa is scarce. Objectives: To measure the prevalence of intestinal Protozoan Infections and to identify risk factors associated with Protozoan Infections among the tea garden workers in Ilam district of Nepal. Materials and Methods: A Community based cross-sectional study was conducted among tea garden workers in Ilam district of Nepal. Out of 4 tea estates in Ilam District, 2 tea estates (Ilam Municipality and Kanyam) were selected randomly. Out of total 150 tea workers (30 in Ilam Municipality and 120 in Kanyam), 98 workers participated in the study. Semi-structured questionnaire was used and routine examination of stool was done. Collected data was entered in Microsoft excel and analysed. Results: Prevalence of protozoan infections among the Tea Estates workers of Ilam District was 22.4%. Giardia lamblia was seen higher (12.2%) than Entamoeba histolytica (10.2%). Regarding ethnicity, the protozoan infection was seen higher among Dalit (40%) than Janajati (18.8%) and Brahmin/Chhetri (11.1%) (P<0.05). The protozoan infections was seen lower who use of soap and water after defecation (6.2%) than those using only water (60%) (P<0.001). The protozoan infections was also seen lower who wear sandals or shoes (17.3%) than those did not wear (47.1%) (P<0.05). The protozoan infection was seen higher among those having the habit of nail biting and thumbs sucking. Conclusions: There is relatively high prevalence of intestinal protozoan infection among the Tea garden workers in Ilam District of Nepal. This obviously suggests that there is possible poor personal hygiene, sanitation, and behavior oriented risk factors which predispose the workers to these parasites.

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A Study of Prevalence of Intestinal Protozoan Infections and Associated Risk Factors Among the School Children of Itahari, Eastern Region of Nepal

Journal of Chitwan Medical College ◽

10.3126/jcmc.v3i1.8463 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 32-36

Author(s):

Ram Bilakshan Sah ◽

IS Paudel ◽

R Baral ◽

P Poudel ◽

N Jha ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

School Children ◽

Intestinal Parasites ◽

School Age Children ◽

Eastern Region ◽

Intestinal Protozoan ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Nail Biting ◽

Protozoan Infection ◽

Protozoan Infections

Intestinal parasites, notably the protozoa are among the most common infections of school age children where they cause morbidity in developing countries.The objective of the study was to measure the prevalence of intestinal protozoan infection and to identify risk factors associated with protozoan infection among the school children of Itahari.The cross sectional study was conducted in Grade VI, VII and VIII in schools of Itahari Municipality. Stratified random sampling method was applied to choose the schools and the study subjects. Semi-structured questionnaire was administered to the study subjects and microscopic examination of stool was done.The Chi-square test was used to measure the association of risk factors and intestinal protozoan infections.Overall intestinal protozoan infection was found to be 18.5 percent. Giardia lamblia was found high (10.5%) in comparison to Entamoeba histolytica (8%). Almost (18.4%) of male and (18.6%) of female were infected with protozoan parasites. The use of soap and water after defecation had lower prevalence of protozoan infections (16%) than only use of water (28.9%). The protozoan infection was significantly lower among having clean nail (6%) in comparison to having not clean (24.8%) respectively. We conclude that the prevalence of intestinal protozoan infection was found to be high in school children of Itahari and those having unhygienic skin, nail and clothes, and the habit of nail biting and thumb sucking was found to have significant relationship in the causation of intestinal protozoan infection. Journal of Chitwan Medical College 2013; 3(1): 32-36 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jcmc.v3i1.8463

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