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)