A retrospective study was conducted among the patients of the Shamasan Primary Health Centre to find the prevalence rates of intestinal parasites by age, sex, and seasonality. All patients whose stool samples were examined and properly recorded during the years 1406H and 1407H (1985-87) were included in the study. Results showed that about 2% of the 283,622 patients were advised stool analysis. The overall parasite prevalence rate was 29.4%. All ages and sexes were affected, with higher prevalence rates in children less than 10 years of age and in females aged 20 to 49 years. There were some seasonal variations in the parasite prevalence rates. The prevalence rate for Giardia lamblia was 15.5%, Entamoeba histolytica 7.5%, E. coli 6.2%, Ascaris lumbricoides 1%, and Hymenolepis nana and Schistosoma less than 1%. Hookworm was not seen. Although a lower prevalence rate of G. lamblia was expected, its prevalence rate in the dry atmosphere and high altitude (2500 to 3000 meters) of the Ahba region appears to be higher than or similar to that in other parts of the Kingdom. Most intestinal parasites have been associated With ill health for centuries. The prevalence of almost all parasites depends on climatic and socioenvironmental conditions. In a Bangladesh slum, over 80% of the population have one or more parasites.1 In some parts of India, Ascaris infection has been reported to vary from 80% to 95%. 2In Pakistan, the prevalence of parasites in diarrheal patients was found to be 71%, with a high rate of Giardia lamblia. 3 In one community of Canada, the A. lumbricoides prevalence rate was over 28% . 4 In Yemen, a neighboring country of Saudi Arabia, 53% of the stool specimens were positive for intestinal parasites.5 At the same time, only 7.56% of the food handlers working in restaurants of Saudi Arabia were infested with parasites, and a very low percent of them had Entamoeba histolytica (3.17%) and G. lamblia (3.10%) infection. 6 But the prevalence
A cross sectional study was conducted on the children of 146 randomly selected urban families of Abha, Saudi Arabia, to find out the common factors associated with caries teeth. The factors considered for association were per capita monthly income, sources of drinking water, consumption of soft drinks, daily brushing of teeth, daily consumption of candy, and the education levels of mothers. All children up to 12 years of age were examined by visiting their families. The results showed that the per capita monthly income, sources of drinking water and habit of drinking soft drinks had no significant relation with the prevalence rates of caries teeth in children. But the habit of nonbrushing of teeth daily, daily consumption of candies, and low or no education of mothers had significant association with the presence of caries teeth. Adequate health education of children about the ill effects of these practices and raising the educational levels of mothers and prospective mothers may contribute towards achieving dental health by the year 2000 as targetted by the World Health Organization.
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