The present study was carried out over a total of 330 suspected outdoor TB patients from the Shyamoli Chest Clinic, Dhaka. The prevalence of TB was 29.69%, male and female ratio for the prevalence being 2.4:1. The highest prevalence (18.37%) was observed among the 20-24 age group followed by 25-29 age group (17.35%). Prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) among the total cases was 74.51%; on the other hand, extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) was 25.51%. According to the severity of 73 PTB cases, 52.05% had severe pulmonary infection, 28.8% moderate pulmonary infection, and 19.2% mild TB infection.Among 98 TB positive cases, 14.29% had relapse cases and 85.71% had new cases. Among the 14 relapse cases, 85.71% patients had PTB while 14.29% patients had EPTB. On the other hand, out of 84 new cases, 72.62% had PTB and 27.38% had EPTB. According to occupation, the highest prevalence (21.43%) was observed among service holders, followed by garments workers and laborers (17.35%). The lowest prevalence (9.18%) was found among unemployed people.The higher prevalence of TB was mostly associated with poor socio-economic condition, close contact with infected cases, illiteracy, gender related factors and health care.

Parasitic infection is a global health problem especially in developing countries. Municipal wastewaters always contain cysts of parasitic protozoans at some level. The present study was conducted to detect protozoan parasites in different stages of the treatment plant to check its efficacy. Wastewaters were collected from 3 points of the Pagla Sewage Treatent Plant (PSTP) of Dhaka, Bangladesh, throughout the year, 2007-08 at fortnight intervals. Giardia spp., Entamoeba spp., Entamoeba coli, Endolimax nana, Idoamoeba butschlii and Balantidium coli were detected at different times in different stages of the treatment plant. Among these Giardia and Entamoeba spp. were found most frequently than others. Both the prevalence and dominance of protozoan parasites were reduced gradually with the sampling point of the treatment plant which means that the treatment plant was effective in reducing protozoan parasites but not too effective to eliminate them completely.

The present study was designed for the qualitative and quantitative detection of Giardia in the Pagla Sewage Treatment Plant (PSTP) in Dhaka. The physico-chemical parameters of the sewage water were also recorded. Total 72 raw and treated samples were collected from PSTP throughout the year 2008 and these were processed with the Formol-Ether Concentration method and IMS followed by microscopy to identify Giardia in the sewage water. The protozoan parasite Giardia was abundant (2.23±1.44 × 105 cyst/l) in the sewage water dominating the sampling sites-Grit chamber (44%), Measuring chamber (34%) and Outlet lagoon (38%). A low abundance of Giardia in the PSTP starting from the first point to the last one indicates the waste water treatment efficiency for removal of the pathogen. A significant correlation was found for log (number of Giardia +1) with turbidity (r= 0.729) and TDS (r= 0.536) at 0.01level.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjz.v39i2.10578 Bangladesh J. Zool. 39(2): 147-156, 2011