Prevalence of Intestinal Parasitic Infection Among School Children of Bajawar, Pakistan

AbstractIntroduction: Intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) are caused by protozoan and helminths and are among the most widespread infection in poor populations. The current study aimed to investigate factors affecting the prevalence IPI among children going to school at the primary level in District Bajaur.Methods: After obtaining official approval from the school administration, a formal consent questionnaire was filled out by the selected children based on age, education level, and parents’ income. A total of ۶۸۷ fecal samples were collected from August ۲۰۱۹ to December ۲۰۱۹ in seven subdivisions of Bajaur and were examined through normal saline and Lugol’s iodine solutions (direct smear method).Results: The prevalence of infection was noticed in ۵۸.۵% (n = ۴۰۲/۶۸۷) of samples, in which the highest prevalent parasite was Ascaris lumbricoides (۳۹.۸%, n = ۱۶۰/۴۰۲), followed by Taenia saginata (۱۸.۱%, n = ۷۳/۴۰۲), Entamoeba histolytica (۱۵.۴%, n = ۶۲/۴۰۲), Enterobius vermicularis (۸.۷۰%, n = ۳۵/۴۰۲), Giardia lamblia (۷.۴۶%, n = ۳۰/۴۰۲), and Trichuris trichiura (۵.۴۷%, n = ۲۲/۴۰۲). On the other hand, the lowest prevalence rate was noted for Hymenolepis nana in only ۷ samples, including ۲ cases (۲۸.۵۷%) in males and ۵ cases (۷۱.۴۳%) in females, respectively. The students of grade ۵ were more adapted to hand washing (۹۰.۹%), while the lowest rate of hand washing was observed in kindergarten and ۱st class children (P > ۰.۰۵). The children of the low classes were found to eat raw food materials more than those of the high classes (P > ۰.۰۵). The same case was also detected for water sources (P > ۰.۰۵), while the children of the ۱st and ۲nd classes were found more associated with pet animals than the other students (P > ۰.۰۵). Mon parasitism and polyparasitism were observed at ۷۶.۶% (n = ۳۰۸/۴۰۲) and ۴.۹۵% (n = ۲۰/۴۰۲), respectively.Conclusion: The current study calls for the control of IPI among children of the study region as polyparasitism as an alarming reason.Keywords: Helminth, Infection, Prevalence, Cestodes, Protozoan, School children