Prevalence and Determinant Factors of Intestinal Parasites among School Children in Arba Minch Town, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Back ground: Intestinal parasitic infections are still quite common in developing countries including Ethiopia, particularly in children. They are mostly associated with unsafe and low quality of drinking water, poor personal and environmental sanitation. Thus, the objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and determinant factors of intestinal parasites among school children. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in March, 2014, among 498 students selected from three governmental elementary schools in Arbaminch-town, Southern Ethiopia using stratified multistage sampling method. Structured questionnaire was used to identify environmental, socio demographic and behavioral factors. Stool specimens were collected from all study subjects and were examined for intestinal parasites using direct smear (mount examination) and Formal-ether concentration techniques. Finally, data entry and analysis was done using Epi-info and SPSS statistical soft ware respectively. A bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was done. P value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: A total of nine parasites were detected .The overall prevalence of intestinal parasites was 27.7% (95% confidence interval (CI): (23.8-31.6%)). The predominant parasite was E.histolytica/dispar 64(12.9%) followed by A.lumboricoids 53(10.6%), H.nana 21 (4.2%) and G.lamblia 21 (4.2%). Hand washing practice before meal [AOR = 5.7; 95% CI (3.4, 9.7)], nail hygiene [AOR= 2.6; 95% CI (1.5, 4.4)], and children's mother educational level [ A OR =3.5; 95% CI (1.01, 11.4)] showed statistically significant association with high rates of intestinal parasitic infections. Conclusion and recommendations: The prevalence of intestinal parasites is high in the study area among school children .Thus, it indicates the need of interventions like health education regarding to personal hygiene and mass treatment.

Prevalence of Intestinal Parasitic Infections in St. Marry Hospital, Axum, Northern Ethiopia: A Retrospective Study

“…E. histolytica and G. lambila were the predominant protozoan parasites while Hookworm was the commonest helminth parasite. In other studies also E. histolytica and G. lambila were the commonly detected protozoan parasites [2,[10][11][12][13]. With regard to helminth parasites, in contrast to our study A. lumbricoides [9][10][11][12] was the commonest parasite in other studies.…”

“…Studies from different part of Ethiopia [2,5,[9][10][11][12] and outside Ethiopia [4,7] reported a prevalence of 22.7-79.8%. There was higher prevalence in this study compared to studies conducted in India and Nepal [4,7].…”

“…Socioeconomic conditions, education, sanitation practices and presence of domestic animals in the home are some of the factors which determine the prevalence of intestinal parasite [8,9]. In Ethiopia intestinal parasites are widely distributed largely due to lack of environmental and personal sanitation, contamination of food and drinking water resulted from open defecation around the settlement and lack of awareness of simple health promotion practices [5,[10][11][12]. As far as we know no study was conducted on the prevalence of intestinal parasite in Axum St. Marry Hospital, Tigray.…”

Prevalence of parasitic Infections and its Effect on the Health Status of Primary School Children

“…This is in the line withSaka et al, (2014) (55) , andHaftu et al, (2014) (33) . On the other hand Al-Mohammed et al, (2010) (56) , and Sah et al, (2013) (57) found that hand washing after defecation was significantly associated with the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection.…”

“…However, Tetteh (2012) (32) , who found that about (48.42%) of the studied students were males and about (51.58%) of them were females with the ages from 5-12 years. Also, another study done by Haftu et al, (2014) (33) , revealed that (48.8%) of the studied children were males and (51.2%) were females with a mean 10.72(+2.55) years. this difference in age may be due to change of age at starting of elementary education in different countries.Regarding history of parasitic infections, the present study revealed that less than two thirds of the studied students had previous personal history of parasitic infection (table 2).…”