Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections in children under the age of 5 years attending the Debre Birhan referral hospital, North Shoa, Ethiopia

BMC Research Notes, Jan 2018

Telanesh Zemene, Melashu Balew Shiferaw

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Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections in children under the age of 5 years attending the Debre Birhan referral hospital, North Shoa, Ethiopia

Zemene and Shiferaw BMC Res Notes Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections in children under the age of 5 years attending the Debre Birhan referral hospital, North Shoa, Ethiopia Telanesh Zemene 0 Melashu Balew Shiferaw 0 0 Parasitology Reference Laboratory, Amhara Public Health Institute , P.O. Box 641, Bahir Dar , Ethiopia Objective: Intestinal parasitic infection is one of the major childhood health problems in developing countries. In Ethiopia, epidemiological data for several localities is limited. Hence, the aim of this study is to assess intestinal parasitic infections among under-five children attending in Debre Birhan referral hospital, which could help to decrease morbidity and mortality in children. A cross-sectional study was conducted in February, 2014. Stool specimens were collected and examined using concentration method. Results: Out of the 247 under-five children participated, 17.4% (95% CI 12.7-22.1%) of the children were infected with at least one or more protozoa parasites (14.2% [95% CI 9.9-18.5%]) and helminthes (3.2% [95% CI 1.0-5.4%]). Giardia lamblia (8.5%), Entamoeba histolytica/dispar (5.7%), Trichuris trichiura (1.6%) and Ascaris lumbricoides (1.2%) were the most identified parasites. Parasitic infection was higher in children who had source of drinking water from the river (36.8%), among children from mothers with poor hand washing practice (31.7%), and among children born from illiterate mothers (27.5%). This revealed that intestinal parasites affect the health of under-five children in the setting. Hence, improving environmental hygiene and inadequate water sanitation, and health education for behavioral changes to personal hygiene would be crucial for effective control of the parasite infections. Parasite; Protozoa; Helminth; Under-five children; Debre Birhan Introduction Intestinal parasitic infection is one of the major childhood health problems in developing countries. According to the world health organization, over 270 million pre-school and over 600 million of school children live in areas where the parasites are intensively transmitted [ 1 ]. The disease is most prevalent among the lower social groups and in children whose parents are farmers that are likely to come in contact with the contaminated soil. This practice encourages the transmission of the parasites through penetration of the infective larvae present in the soil, and through direct or indirect fecal-oral transmission [ 2 ]. Despite there are availability of chemotherapy and control measures, intestinal nematode infections rank among the most wide spread of soil transmitted intestinal parasites [ 3 ]. Younger children are predisposed to heavy infections with intestinal parasites because of having not fully developed immune systems and also habitually they play in fecal contaminated soil [ 4 ]. Inadequate water sanitation and hygiene are responsible for a major proportion of the burden of disease and death. Intestinal parasitic agents increase in polluted environments such as refuse heaps, gutters and swage units in and around human dwelling and living conditions of the people in crowded or unhealthy situation [ 4, 5 ]. The symptoms of parasitic infection include anemia, asthma, diarrhea, digestive disorders, fatigue, low immune system, nervousness and skin rash. Apart from causing morbidity and mortality, infections with intestinal parasites have been associated with stunting, physical weakness, low education achievements, poor reproductive health, and low economic development [ 6, 7 ]. Furthermore, chronic intestinal parasitic infections have become the subject of speculation and investigation in relation to the spreading and severity of other infectious diseases such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and leprosy [8]. In Ethiopia, intestinal parasites are widely distributed. Most of the intestinal parasites such as A. lumbricoides and T. trichiura showed wider distribution [ 9, 10 ]. A study done in North West Ethiopia showed higher prevalence of H. nana (13.8%), E. histolytica/dispar (9.2%) and A. lumbricoides (5.9%) [8]. The problem is more severe in the region as evidenced by a study done in Delgi Ethiopia that showed very high prevalence of A. lumbricoides (48%), G. lamblia (41.9%), E. histolytica/dispar (27.3%), S. mansoni (15.9%), and Hookworm (11.5%) [ 9 ]. In Jimma Ethiopia 26.3% of S. mansoni prevalence was documented [ 10 ]. Another study conducted in Eastern part of Ethiopia also found nine species of intestinal helminths with an overall prevalence of 27.2% [ 11 ]. However, there are still several localities for which epidemiological information is not available including the study area. Moreover, under-5 years of age children are more prone to intestinal parasites because of the low immunity they have in this stage that needs special care and follow up [ 12 ]. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infe (...truncated)


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Telanesh Zemene, Melashu Balew Shiferaw. Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections in children under the age of 5 years attending the Debre Birhan referral hospital, North Shoa, Ethiopia, BMC Research Notes, 2018, pp. 58, Volume 11, Issue 1, DOI: 10.1186/s13104-018-3166-3