scholarly journals Intestinal Parasites, Anemia and Nutritional Status in Young Children from Transitioning Western Amazon

Author(s):  
Rejane C. Marques ◽  
José V. E. Bernardi ◽  
Caetano C. Dorea ◽  
José G. Dórea

Young children are particularly vulnerable to the chronic sequelae of anemia, including poor nutritional status. The aim of this study was to assess intestinal parasitic-infections and nutritional status (anemia and linear growth) in preschool children living in contemporary Amazonian communities. A cross-sectional study measured children’s intestinal parasites and hair-Hg (HHg)—biomarkers of fish consumption, hemoglobin levels, and growth (anthropometric Z-scores). Children came from traditional-living families (Itapuã), and tin-mining settlements (Bom Futuro) representing current transitioning populations. It covered 937 pre-school children (from 1 to 59 months of age) from traditional (247) and immigrant tin-mining families (688). There was a high prevalence of intestinal polyparasitic-infection in children from both communities, but mild anemia (hemoglobin concentrations) and moderate (chronic) malnutrition were more frequent in children from traditional families than in children from tin-mining settlers. Children from traditional families ate significantly more fish (HHg mean of 4.3 µg/g) than children from tin-mining families (HHg mean of 2.3 µg/g). Among traditional villagers, children showed a significant correlation (r = 0.2318; p = 0.0005) between hemoglobin concentrations and HHg concentrations. High rates of parasitic infection underlie the poverty and attendant health issues of young children in the Brazilian Amazon. The intestinal parasite burden affecting poor Amazonian children resulting from unsafe water, lack of sanitation and poor hygiene is the most urgent environmental health issue.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ermias Alemayehu ◽  
Alemu Gedefie ◽  
Aderaw Adamu ◽  
Jemal Mohammed ◽  
Brhanu Kassanew ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Parasitic infections are known causes of morbidity among HIV infected patients with low CD4+ counts who are on antiretroviral therapy; mainly as a result of immune suppression. Thus, this study aimed to assess the extent of intestinal parasitic infection and its related risk factors among HIV infected patients attending ART clinic of Debretabor General Hospital, Northern Ethiopia.Patients and methods: A health facility based cross sectional study was conducted on a total of 383 HIV infected patients attending ART clinic of Debretabor General Hospital, Northern Ethiopia from December 2018 to March 2019. An interview based structured questionnaire were used to gather socio-demographic and risk factor data. About 5 grams of fresh stool specimen and 4 ml of venous blood sample were collected, then transported and tested in accordance with the laboratory standard operating procedures. The obtained data was entered into SPSS version 22.0; and analyzed. P-value <0.05 with 95% confidence interval was considered statistically significant.Result: The overall prevalence of intestinal parasites was 25.3%; with 18% and 23.8% by direct wet mount and formol-ether concentration technique respectively. 8 (2.1%) patients were infected by multiple parasites in concentration technique. Ascaris lumbricoides, 23(25.3%) was the most frequently identified parasite. Parasitic infection was significantly higher among illiterates (P=0.011); patients with a CD4 count of <200 cells/mm3 (P<0.001) and among patients who did not have latrine (P=0.049) than their counter parts.Conclusion: Relatively higher prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection was found among HIV/AIDS patients. The distribution of intestinal parasites is greatly affected by illiteracy, reduced CD4+ counts and absence of toilet. Thus, HIV/AIDS patients with low CD4+ counts should be diagnosed consistently for intestinal parasites and routine stool examination and awareness creation should be advocated to be included as an essential component of the ART monitoring strategy for improved patient care.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gemechu Ameya ◽  
Zerihun Zerdo ◽  
Mihret Tesfaye ◽  
Chimdo Jabesa ◽  
Abayneh Awaje ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Intestinal parasitic infection is one of the parasitic infections affecting people living in prison. Helminths and intestinal protozoan infections are the most common parasitic infection that may cause serious life-threatening diseases in inmates living in developing countries. This study was aimed to investigate the prevalence and associated factors of intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) among inmates living in Arba Minch prison, southern Ethiopia. Methods Institutional based cross sectional study was conducted on Arba Minch inmates, southern Ethiopian. Pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire was used to gather the data of socio-demographic characteristics, hygiene status of the prisoners, sanitation condition of the prison, and associated factors for IPIs by face to face interview. Direct wet-mount examination and formol-ether sedimentation techniques were used to examine intestinal parasitic infection from stool specimens. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to see the association between different variables and the IPI. Odds ratio with 95% CI was computed to determine the presence association and strength of the associated factors. Result A total of 320 prisoners were participated in this study. Of these, 154(48.1%) of them were infected with one or more intestinal parasites. Eight different intestinal parasites species were identified and Giardia lamblia was the predominant parasite. Among infected inmates, nearly one out of four of them had multiple parasitic infections dominated by Giardia lamblia and E. histolytica/dispar co-infection. Sleeping in group [AOR = 1.9; 95% CI: (1.0–3.8)], married prisoners [AOR = 1.8; 95% CI: (1.1–2.9)], and hand washing habits after handling soil [AOR = 2.4; 95% CI: (1.0–5.6)] were independently associated with IPI. Conclusion High prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection was detected in Arba Minch inmates, southern Ethiopian. Absence of hand washing, marital status, and way of sleeping were the factors associated with the IPI. Implementation of mass drug administration, education on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and periodic screening of intestinal parasitic infection is very important to reduce the high prevalence IPIs in prison.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabit Zenu Siraj ◽  
Eshetu Alemayehu ◽  
Kifle Woldemichael

Abstract Background Street child is any child whose age is less than 18 years for whom the street has become his or her habitual abode and/or source of livelihood, is inadequately protected, supervised or directed by responsible adults. In Ethiopia the health problems of street children are given poor attention in research. This problem is pronounced when it comes to intestinal parasitic infections . The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections and associated factors among street children in Jimma town in the year 2019. Methods and Materials: Community based cross sectional study was employed. Complete enumeration was used to include 312 street children. Pretested questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data was entered to Epidata version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 20. Stool samples were examined by wet mount and formalin ether concentration techniques. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with intestinal parasitic infection. Significance of association was decided by using the 95% confidence interval of AOR and P-value of ≤ 0.05 in the multivariable model. Result: A total of 312 children of the street were involved in the study making the response rate 96.2%. The prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection was 66.7%. Untrimmed finger nails AOR=2.03;95%CI (1.02-4.06), eating street food AOR=2.24;95% CI (1.04-5.02), practice of swimming in unprotected water bodies AOR=2.5; 95% CI (1.24-5.04), not wearing shoes at the time of data collection AOR= 3.8;95% CI (1.8-8.2) and lacking knowledge of way of transmission of intestinal parasites AOR= 2.5; 95% CI (1.25- 5.0) were significantly associated with parasitic infections. Conclusion and Recommendations: The prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among street children in the study area was high and require integrated interventions to avert the problem. Factors like untrimmed finger nails, swimming practice, eating street foods, shoe wearing and lacking knowledge of ways of transmission of intestinal parasitic infections are associated with infection status. Measures has to be taken to curb the problem by including them in mass drug administration and targeted health education towards identified factors. Key words : Street children, Intestinal parasites, Jimma


2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 868-872 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sintayehu Fekadu ◽  
Kefyalew Taye ◽  
Wondu Teshome ◽  
Solomon Asnake

Introduction: Intestinal parasitic infectionsare a major public health burden in tropical countries. Although all HIV/AIDS patients are susceptible to parasitic infections, those having lower immune status are at greater risk. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections in patients living with HIV/AIDS. Methodology: This was a facility-based cross-sectional study. A total of 343 consecutively sampled HIV/AIDS patients from the HIV care clinic of Hawassa University Referral Hospital were included. Subjects were interviewed for demographic variables and diarrheal symptoms using structured questionnaires. Stool examinations and CD4 cells counts were also performed. Results: The prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection was 47.8% among HIV/AIDS patients;  single helminthic infection prevalence (22.7%) was higher than that the prevalence of protozoal infections (14.6%). About 54% of study participants had chronic diarrhea while 3.4% had acute diarrhea. The prevalence of intestinal parasites in patients with chronic diarrhea was significantly higher than in acute diarrhea (p <0.05). Non-opportunistic intestinal parasite infections such as Ascaris lumbricoides, Taenia spp., and hookworm were commonlyfound, regardless of immunestatus or diarrheal symptoms. Opportunistic and non-opportunistic intestinal parasitic infection were more frequent in patients with a CD4 count of <200/mm3 (OR=9.5; 95% CI: 4.64-19.47) when compared with patients with CD4 counts of >=500 cells/mm3. Conclusions: Intestinal parasitic infections should be suspected in HIV/AIDS-infected patients with advanced disease presenting with chronic diarrhea. Patients with low CD4 counts should be examined critically for intestinal parasites, regardless of diarrheal status.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Adane Derso ◽  
Gizachew Yenealem ◽  
Ayenew Addisu

Background. Intestinal parasitic infections are the cause of the highest worldwide infectious disease and the major public health problems in developing countries. Among the cases, children and younger age are at high risk and the major victims. The aim of this study was to assess the five-year trend of intestinal parasite prevalence among University of Gondar students. Method. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the trend of intestinal parasite prevalence among students at the University of Gondar. The data was collected from students who have studied at the University of Gondar from 2014 to 2018 and who visited the student’s clinic and had recorded results of stool sample diagnosis on the laboratory logbook. Stool specimens were examined using direct saline wet mount methods. The data was analyzed by using SPSS version 20 software, and P value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Moreover, chi-square was used to assess the association of different variables. Result. During the study period, a total of 6244 stool samples were requested for intestinal parasite diagnosis and it was found that 2850 specimens were positive for intestinal parasites, representing an overall prevalence of 45.6% with a fluctuating trend. Ten different parasites were reported with Entamoeba histolytica/dispar (20.3%) and Giardia lamblia (8.2%), the most frequently detected intestinal parasites. The prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections was higher in males (35.4%) than females (10.2%) ( P = 0.02 ). Conclusions. Intestinal parasitic infection was highly prevalent, and there were fluctuations in the prevalence of intestinal parasites from 2014 to 2018. Environmental sanitation improvement and health education schemes at the University of Gondar can be considered quite indispensable for the prevention and control of parasitic infections in the area.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (02) ◽  
pp. 30-35
Author(s):  
Shristi Raut ◽  
Srijan Bhattarai ◽  
Rita Khanal ◽  
Sulochana Khatiwada ◽  
Rajeshwar Reddy Kasarla

INTRODUCTION: Intestinal parasites cause significant morbidity and mortality, particularly in the tropics including Nepal. The main objective of this study was to explore the burden of intestinal parasitic infections among children in 5 different primary schools in Bhairahawa, Nepal. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional comparative study among 408 children from 5 schools in Bhirahawa, Nepal. Stool specimens collected in a plastic container were transported to microbiology laboratory in Universal College of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital (UCMSTH) immediately. Each sample was examined macroscopically and microscopically for the evidence of parasitic infection. All samples were re-analysed by sedimentation and floatation concentration techniques one after another. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of the parasitic infection was 46.5%. The prevalence varied by the methods that included routine microscopy (23.2%), sedimentation (41.6%) and flotation (8.3%). Ascaris lumbricoides was the most common (29.1%) parasite followed by Entamoeba histolytica (6.1%). Mixed infection was also seen in 7.8% of the samples. Factors such as children’s academic year, age, religion, existing illness, household water sources, meat consumed, domestic animals at house, and recent history of taking anti-helminthics were significantly associated with the intestinal parasitic infections. Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection was higher in public school (61.1%) compared to private school (37%). Male students had slightly more infections (47.3%) than females (45.7%). CONCLUSIONS: Enteric parasitic infection was very high among the primary schools’ students in Bhairahawa, Nepal. Integrating concentration techniques in routine test can help to detect most of the enteric parasites in stool specimens.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 111-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Maharjan ◽  
M Timilshina ◽  
R Shakya ◽  
S Bhattarai ◽  
S Bhattarai ◽  
...  

INTRODUCTION: Intestinal parasitic infections are the major public health problems of Nepal. Apart from causing mortality and morbidity, infection with intestinal parasites has been associated with stunting of linear growth, physical weakness and low educational achievement in school children. The drinking water is considered as the major cause for parasitic infection. This study aims to determine the prevalence of parasitic infection among the children visiting kindergarten of the Kathmandu, Khusibhu area. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cross sectional study was done in randomly selected Kindergarten of Khusibhu area. A total of 101 samples were examined. The study was focused in isolating intestinal parasites using normal saline and iodine wet mount method. Both macroscopic and microscopic studies were performed. RESULTS: Among the samples 45.5% (n=46) showed parasitic infection in which the Giardia lambia infection was found the highest 56.5% (n=26) and infection with Ascaris lumbricoides was found lowest 8.7% (n=4). Infection rate was found to be high in children drinking filtered water than among those drinking boiled and filtered water. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of parasitic infection in children is mainly associated with hygiene and food habit of the children. Hence good education about the hygienic practice helps in the prevention of the infection. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijim.v2i3.8205 Int J Infect Microbiol 2013;2(3):111-113


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabit Zenu Siraj ◽  
Eshetu Alemayehu ◽  
Kifle Woldemichael

Abstract Background Street child is any child whose age is less than 18 years for whom the street has become his or her habitual abode and/or source of livelihood, is inadequately protected, supervised or directed by responsible adults. In Ethiopia the health problems of street children are given poor attention in research. This problem is pronounced when it comes to intestinal parasitic infections, making it difficult to design appropriate interventions targeting this segment of population. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections and associated factors among street children in Jimma town in the year 2019. Methods: Community based cross sectional study was employed. Complete enumeration was used to include 312 street children. Pretested questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data was entered to Epidata version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 20. Stool samples were examined by wet mount and formalin ether concentration techniques. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with intestinal parasitic infection. Significance of association was decided by using the 95% confidence interval of AOR and P-value of ≤ 0.05 in the multivariable model. Result: A total of 312 children of the street were involved in the study making the response rate 96.2%. The prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection was 66.7%. Untrimmed finger nails AOR=2.03;95%CI (1.02-4.06), eating street food AOR=2.24;95% CI (1.04-5.02), practice of swimming in unprotected water bodies AOR=2.5; 95% CI (1.24-5.04), not wearing shoes at the time of data collection AOR= 3.8;95% CI (1.8-8.2) and lacking knowledge of way of transmission of intestinal parasites AOR= 2.5; 95% CI (1.25- 5.0) were significantly associated with parasitic infections. Conclusions: The prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among street children in the study area was high and require integrated interventions to avert the problem. Several factors were also found to be associated with intestinal parasitic infections. Measures has to be taken to curb the problem by including them in mass drug administration and targeted health education towards identified factors. Key words : Street children, Intestinal parasites, Jimma town


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 284-287
Author(s):  
S. Viesy ◽  
J. Abdi ◽  
Z. Rezaei

Background: Intestinal parasitic infections are the one of the most common health problems in developing countries. Objective: A number of patients die annually due to complications caused by these parasites.Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the rate and type of parasitic infections, determine the factors affecting them in Ilam city and also provide strategies to prevent them.In this descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in one of the Ilam labs in 2016, 417 stool specimens were randomly collected. All specimens were examined using direct and ethanol formaldehyde.Suspect specimens were examined using Trichrom staining. Demographic information was also recorded in a questionnaire, and finally the results were analyzed using statistical software SPSS 20.The data were then compared with Chi-square test. Results: Out of the 417 patients examined, 59 (14.1%) were infected with intestinal parasites. The type of parasitic infection in 9.4% was Blastocystis hominis, 3.6% Entamoeba coli, 0.5% Entamoeba histolytica, 0.5% Giardia and 0.2% Trichomonas hominis. Conclusion: Despite the improvement of public health, parasitic infections are still considered as one of the health problems in the city of Ilam. Therefore, proper planning, public health education, raising the level of health in the area and the provision of safe drinking water are some of the ways to reduce parasitic infections in the region.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Azan A. Nyundo ◽  
David Z. Munisi ◽  
Ainory P. Gesase

Background. Neglected tropical diseases continue to be one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the developing world. Psychiatric patients are among groups at risk for parasitic infection although control and monitoring programs largely overlook this population. This study aimed at determining prevalence and factors associated with intestinal parasitic infection among patients admitted to a psychiatric facility.Method. The study followed cross-sectional design; all the residing patients that met the inclusion criteria were included in the survey. Stool samples were collected and examined by direct wet preparation and formol-ether concentration. Data were analyzed with STATA version 12.1; Chi-square test was computed to determine the level of significance atpvalue < 0.05.Results.Of all 233 patients who returned the stool samples, 29 (12.45%) screened were positive for an intestinal parasite. There was no significant association between parasite carriage and age, sex, or duration of hospital stay.Conclusion. The study shows that intestinal parasitic infection is common among patients in a psychiatric facility and highlights that parasitic infections that enter through skin penetration may be a more common mode of transmission than the oral route. Furthermore, the study underscores the need for surveillance and intervention programs to control and manage these infections.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document