Prevalence of Intestinal Parasitic Infestation among Public School Children of a Community

Abstract

Introduction: Intestinal parasitic infestation is one of the major health problems in developing countries like Nepal. This study was done to determine the prevalence rate of intestinal parasitic infestation among school children in Duwakot VDC, Bhaktapur, Nepal. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was done in 194 public school children of Duwakot village development committee from August to October, 2019. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Institutional Review Committee (reference no. 1207201915). Simple random sampling was done. One hundred and ninety-four public school children individuals of 6 to 14 years of age were enrolled. Collected stools were examined for the presence of parasites macroscopically and microscopically. Microscopic examination was carried out by direct wet mount using normal saline (0.9%) and Lugol’s iodine (0.5%) mount. The data obtained were computed and analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 16.0. Results: A total of 194 stool samples were collected from school children and examined. The prevalence of intestinal parasitosis was 26 (13.40%). The commonest organism was Giardia lamblia in 22 (11.34%) cases. Among helminthic infection, 2 (1.03%) cases each were infected by Hymenolepis nana and Hookworm respectively. Conclusions: The prevalence rate of intestinal parasite infestation in Nepal shows considerable decline in recent years. However, more effort is required by public health resources to minimize the problem further.

Keywords

• intestinal diseases; parasitic; prevalence; schools.