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

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-36
Author(s):  
Ram Bilakshan Sah ◽  
IS Paudel ◽  
R Baral ◽  
P Poudel ◽  
N Jha ◽  
...  

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

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
R. B. Sah ◽  
U Shah ◽  
N Jha

<strong>Introduction</strong>: 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. <strong>Objectives</strong>: 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. <strong>Materials and Methods</strong>: 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. <strong>Results</strong>: Prevalence of protozoan infections among the Tea Estates workers of Ilam District was 22.4%. <em>Giardia lamblia</em> was seen higher (12.2%) than <em>Entamoeba histolytica</em> (10.2%). Regarding ethnicity, the protozoan infection was seen higher among Dalit (40%) than Janajati (18.8%) and Brahmin/Chhetri (11.1%) (P&lt;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&lt;0.001). The protozoan infections was also seen lower who wear sandals or shoes (17.3%) than those did not wear (47.1%) (P&lt;0.05). The protozoan infection was seen higher among those having the habit of nail biting and thumbs sucking. <strong>Conclusions</strong>: 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.


2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 140 ◽  
Author(s):  
RamBilakshan Sah ◽  
Satish Yadav ◽  
Ratna Baral ◽  
Sailesh Bhattarai ◽  
Nilambar Jha ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
R. B. Sah ◽  
P. K. Pokharel ◽  
I. S. Paudel ◽  
A. Acharya ◽  
N. Jha

<strong>Background:</strong>Worm infestation has remained major zoonotic diseases in Nepal especially among children.<p><strong>Objectives:</strong> To measure the prevalence of worm infestation and to identify risk factors associated with worm infestation among the school children of Dharan.</p><p><strong>Material and Methods:</strong> A cross sectional study was conducted among school children of Dharan. Stratified random sampling method was applied to choose the schools and the study subjects. The Chi-square test was used to measure the association of risk factors and worm infestation.</p><p><strong>Results:</strong> Overall prevalence of worm infestation among the school children was 11.3 percent. Taenia species was found very high (5.3%) in comparison to other worms i.e. Hookworm (2%), Ascaris lumbricoides (1.9%), Trichuris trichiura (1%), Hymenolepsis nana (0.7%) and Enterobius vermicularis (0.3%). No significant relationship was traced among the factors in the causation of worm infestation although slight indications present.</p><p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Overall prevalence of worm infestation among the school children has remained high.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Soumia Sebaa ◽  
Jerzy M. Behnke ◽  
Djamel Baroudi ◽  
Ahcene Hakem ◽  
Marawan A. Abu-Madi

Abstract Background Intestinal parasitic infections are amongst the most common infections worldwide and have been identified as one of the most significant causes of morbidity and mortality among disadvantaged populations. This comparative cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the prevalence of intestinal protozoan infections and to identify the significant risk factors associated with intestinal parasitic infections in Laghouat province, Southern Algeria. Methods A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted, involving 623 symptomatic and 1654 asymptomatic subjects. Structured questionnaires were used to identify environmental, socio demographic and behavioral factors. Stool specimens were collected and examined using direct wet mount, formalin-ether concentration, xenic in vitro culture and staining methods. Results A highly significant difference of prevalence was found between symptomatic (82.3%) and asymptomatic subjects (14.9%), with the majority attributable to protozoan infection. The most common species in the symptomatic subjects were Blastocystis spp. (43.8%), E. histolytica/dispar (25.4%) and Giardia intestinalis (14.6%) and more rarely Enterobius vermicularis (02.1%), Teania spp. (0.6%) and Trichuris trichiura (0.2%), while in asymptomatic population Blastocystis spp. (8%), Entamoeba coli (3.3%) and Entamoeba histolytica/dispar (2.5%) were the most common parasites detected with no case of helminth infection. Multivariate log-linear analysis showed that contact with animals was the main risk factor for transmission of these protozoa in both populations. Furthermore, living in rural areas was significantly associated with combined protozoan infection in the asymptomatic population, whereas, in the symptomatic population an increasing trend of protozoan infection was detected in the hot season. In addition, Blastocystis spp. and G. intestinalis infection were found to be associated with host sex and contact with animals across the study period. Conclusions Based on these results, several strategies are recommended in order to effectively reduce these infections including good animal husbandry practices, health education focused on good personal hygiene practices and adequate sanitation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Nigus Dagne ◽  
Amir Alelign

Background. Intestinal protozoan parasitic infections remain one of the major public health problems in tropical regions especially, among developing countries such as Ethiopia. However, no enough epidemiological data is available in this respect in many parts of the country. Hence, this study was aimed at assessing the prevalence of intestinal protozoan parasitic infections and their associated risk factors among school children in Zeita village, Merhabete District, North Shewa Zone, Central Ethiopia. Methods. A cross-sectional parasitological survey was conducted from January to March 2020. A total of 280 children from Zeita primary school were selected using stratified random sampling techniques. Stool samples were collected and examined using direct wet mount, Formal-Ether concentration and Modified Zeihel-Neelsen staining techniques. Results. The overall prevalence of intestinal protozoan parasitic infection was found to be 46.8% (131/280). The three predominant protozoan parasites detected in this study were Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia lamblia, and Cryptosporidium parvum which were observed in 70 (25.2%), 54 (19.3%), and 7 (2.5%) of the study participants, respectively. Sociodemographic characteristics of the study subjects such as family occupation ( P = 0.028 ), sources of drinking water ( P = 0.001 ), water handling practice ( P = 0.027 ), habit of eating vegetable ( P = 0.001 ), and presence of latrine were observed to be significantly associated risk factors for the occurrence of human intestinal protozoan parasites. Conclusion. A high prevalence of intestinal protozoan parasitic infection which has been contributed by different risk factors was revealed in this study. The findings suggested a need of collaborative effort among the educational and health authorities to control the infection in the study area.


Author(s):  
Ram Bilakshan Sah ◽  
Paras Kumar Pokharel ◽  
Ishwari Sharma Paudel ◽  
Anju Acharya ◽  
Nilambar Jha ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 413-416
Author(s):  
Dr. Suzan Ail Yousif Abo* ,Dr. ALI abdalazez Salih

This is a descriptive cross-sectional study that was carried out at Khartoum Stateduring the school year 20112/2012 to estimate the prevalence of obesity among schoolchildren aged 6-15 years and to investigate the relationship between BMI (Body MassIndex) and socioeconomic status and life style factors. Two hundred and fifty pupilsparticipated in this study. The researcher took the anthropometric measurement insidethe class room and gave the questionnaire the students to be answered by one of child’sparents. The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences(SPSS Version 13.0).In this study, prevalence of obesity was found to be (48%) of them 18% males and 30%females. Income of the family, number of high caloric carbonated beverages/week, wayof transportation to school, length of daily playing outside the home, and time spentin watching TV and video games were significantly correlated with student’s BMI.While parent’s BMI was not having significant correlation with student’s BMI.This study is considered as the first study in its field regarding this age category inKhartoum State, and it is promoting future researches in obesity and its determinant.Key words: Obesity in relation to risk factors and socioeconomic conditions amongschool-age children


2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Teshome Bekana ◽  
Nega Berhe ◽  
Tadesse Eguale ◽  
Mulugeta Aemero ◽  
Girmay Medhin ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Schistosomiasis and fascioliasis are digenean parasitic infections and are among the neglected tropical diseases that have both medical and veterinary importance. They are found mainly in areas having limited access to safe water supply and improved sanitation. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Schistosoma mansoni and Fasciola species infections and to identify associated risk factors among school children in Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia. Stool specimens were collected from 798 children (419 males, 379 females) and processed using Kato-Katz and formol-ether concentration techniques. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic and other exposure information to explore potential risk factors for the infections. Results The overall prevalence of S. mansoni and Fasciola species infections was 25.6% (95% confidence interval (CI): 22.5-28.6) and 5.5% (95% CI: 3.9-7.1), respectively. S. mansoni was present in all surveyed schools with the prevalence ranging from 12.8% (16/125; 95% CI = 5.6-20.0) to 39.7% (64/161; 95% CI = 32.2-47.2) while Fasciola species was identified in five schools with the prevalence ranging from 2.5% (4/160; 95% CI = 0.001–4.9) to 9.8% (13/133; 95% CI = 4.7–14.8). The prevalence of S. mansoni infection was significantly associated with swimming in rivers (Adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 1.79, 95% CI, 1.22–2.62; P=0.003), bathing in open freshwater bodies (AOR, 2.02; 95% CI, 1.39–2.94; P<0.001) and engaging in irrigation activities (AOR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.19-2.39; P=0.004), and was higher in children attending Addis Mender (AOR, 2.56; 95% CI, 1.20–5.46; P=0.015 ) and Harbu schools (AOR, 3.53; 95% CI, 1.64–7.59; P=0.001). Fasciola species infection was significantly associated with consumption of raw vegetables (AOR, 2.47; 95% CI, 1.23-4.97; P=0.011) and drinking water from unimproved sources (AOR, 2.28; 95% CI, 1.11–4.70; P=0.026). Conclusion Both intestinal schistosomiasis and human fascioliasis are prevalent in the study area, affecting school children. Behaviors and access to unimproved water and sanitation are among significant risk factors. The findings are instrumental for targeted interventions.


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