Prevalence of Intestinal Parasitosis among School Children of Jaleshwar, Mahottari, Nepal

Abstract

Present study was conducted among the school children of Jaleshwar, Mahottari, Nepal to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections. The study reflects the present scenario of intestinal parasitic infection and some of its pre-disposing factors among school children of this region. The study was conducted from May to November 2010. A total of 320 (212 from public school and 108 from private school) stool samples were collected, formalin fixed and brought to Kathmandu. The laboratory examination was done at employing direct smear and formal-ether concentration technique. Overall prevalence of infection was found to be 42.2% (135/320). Infection rate was marginally higher in public school children (45.3%) compared to the private school children (36.1%) (P>0.05). No significance difference in infection rate among male (41.7%) and female (42.9%) was observed (P>0.05). Infection rate was significantly higher in the children not having toilet at home (48.9%) compared to the children having toilet facility at home (32.3%) (P<0.05). Significantly higher prevalence was observed in children washing their hands with mud after defecation (50.8%) compared to the children using soap (37.1%) (P<0.05). Significantly higher infection was observed in children who have not taken anti-parasitic drugs in previous one month (47.9%). Altogether ten species of parasite were detected in the study. Giardia lamblia (31.79%) was the most common protozoan parasite detected whereas Ascaris lumbricoides (12.58%) topped among the list of helminthes. The result indicated the need for school health programmes that will involve periodic deworming, health education and improvement of sanitation.