Prevalence of Intestinal Parasites Among Students of Ananda Bhairab Lower Secondary School of Mulpani, Kathmandu

Abstract

Many people of Mulpani VDC of Kathmandu district are still illiterate and poor. Many houses still lack toilets and safe drinking water supply. The present study entitled "Prevalence of Intestinal parasites among students of Ananda Bhairab Lower Secondary School of Mulpani, Kathmandu" was carried out during July 2006 to October 2007 to determine the intestinal parasitic infection rate among the children. Out of 245 students of Ananda Bhairab Lower Secondary School of Mulpani VDC, a total of 232 stool samples were collected and examined under microscope. Out of these, 62 (26.72%) were found positive for the intestinal parasites. The intestinal parasites observed during the study were 43.48% Ascaris lumbricoides, 26.09%. Entamoeba histolytica, 14.49% Giardia intestinalis, 8.70% Cyclospora sps., 5.80% Trichuris trichiura and 1.45% Hymenolepis nana. Infection by more than single parasite was 11.29%. The parasitic infections were found generally higher in males (29.41%) in comparison to females (24.62%). Statistically the difference in the prevalence of intestinal parasites between the two sexes was found to be insignificant (χ2 = 0.671, P> 0.05). The age-wise distribution of parasitic infections was found to be maximum (38.88%) in the age group 15 and above and minimum (26.32%) in the age group 10-15 years. However, statistically no significant difference was found in infection rate among different age groups of children (χ2 = 2.22, P> 0.05). Such a remarkable prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among children of Mulpani VDC were found to be directly associated with unhygienic feeding habit, lack of knowledge, poor sanitation and poverty.