Abstract
BackgroundGlobally about one third of the total population is estimated to be infected with intestinal parasites, of which, the majority are people living in tropical and sub-tropical parts of the world. Cases of intestinal parasitosis are also highly abundant in Ethiopia and hence the aim of present study was to assess prevalence and predictors of intestinal parasitic infections among food handlers working in Arba Minch University students’ cafeteria, South Ethiopia.MethodA cross sectional study was conducted among food handlers working in Arba Minch University from April to June, 2015. A pretested structured questionnaire was used for collecting data about socio-demographic characteristics and possible risk factors. Stool specimens were collected and examined microscopically for the presence of eggs, cysts and trophozoites of intestinal parasites. Data entry and analysis were done using SPSS version 20 software.ResultsA total of 376 food handlers were enrolled in the study of which thirty one of them were not willing to participate for a stool examination. The majority of study participants were females 273 (72.6 %). About 123 (36 %) of food handlers were found to be positive for different intestinal parasites with the most abundant parasite of Entamoeba histolytica/dispar 48 (14 %) followed by Ascaris lumbricoides 32 (9.27 %). Finger nail status (AOR: 2.2, 95 % CI: 1.29–3.72), hand washing practice after toilet (AOR: 1.71, 95 % CI: 1.06–2.77), hand washing practice before food handling (AOR: 1.69, 95 % CI: 1.04–2.75), preparing food when suffering from diseases (AOR: 3.08, 95 % CI: 1.17–8.13), and using common knife for cutting raw flesh food and other food (AOR: 1.72, 95 % CI: 1.01–2.92) were independent predictors of intestinal parasitic infection among the food handlers.ConclusionThis study revealed a high prevalence of intestinal parasites among food handlers. Since most of the intestinal parasites are transmitted by the feco-oral route, food handlers could be an important source of infection to the students and general population. Therefore, constant epidemiological surveillance through biannual routine parasitological tests and treatment of the infected cases along with the improvement of personal hygiene and environmental sanitation are recommended to control the parasitic infection in food handlers.
Highlights
About one third of the total population is estimated to be infected with intestinal parasites, of which, the majority are people living in tropical and sub-tropical parts of the world
About 819 million people are infected with Ascaris lumbricoides (A. lumbricoides), 464.6 million people with Trichuris trichiura (T. trichuira), 438.9 million people with hookworm infection [4], 500 million people with Entamoeba histolytica (E. histolytica), and 2.8 million people are infected with Giardia lamblia (G. lamblia) [5]
In this study multivariate logistic regression model indicated that untrimmed finger nail, hand washing practice after toilet, hand washing before food handling, preparing food when suffering from diseases like diarrhea and using common knife for cutting raw flesh food and other food were identified as determinant factors for food handlers being infected by intestinal parasites
Summary
About one third of the total population is estimated to be infected with intestinal parasites, of which, the majority are people living in tropical and sub-tropical parts of the world. It was estimated that about 30 % of the population living in the developed world suffers from diarrheal diseases, mostly caused by food borne microbial pathogens. About 2 million deaths occur annually due to food borne diseases in developing countries [1, 2]. About one third of the total population is estimated to be infected with intestinal parasites, the majority being people living in tropical and sub-tropical parts of the world [3]. As in many developing countries, cases of intestinal parasitosis are highly abundant in Ethiopia. Ethiopia has the second highest burden of ascariasis, the third highest burden of hookworm, and the fourth highest burden of trichuriasis in Sub-Saharan Africa [6]
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