Prevalence of Intestinal Parasites Among the Rural Primary School Students in the West of Ahvaz County, Iran, 2015

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Background: Parasitic infections are among the most important global health problems, especially in the developing countries. They are among the most common forms of infectious diseases in the world. According to the report of the world health organization (WHO), about 3.5 billion people worldwide are infected by a kind of parasite, and 450 million people each year become ill due to complications caused by parasites. Objectives: Due to a lack of accurate statistics on the prevalence of the parasite in primary school children in rural areas of West of Ahvaz, Iran, the current study aimed at investigating the prevalence of intestinal parasites in the mentioned group. Methods: The current descriptive epidemiologic analysis was conducted on 306 rural primary school students in the Western regions of Ahvaz County in 2015. Collected samples were transferred to the laboratory of parasitology in the school of medicine, and underwent a direct and sedimentary formalin-ether test. Results: Out of the 306 students under study, 180 (58.8%) were male and 126 (41.2%) female. Of these students 88 (28.8%) were with 1 or more intestinal parasites, which Giardia lamblia, with the prevalence of 61 (19.9%) subjects had the highest rate, followed by Entamoeba dispar, Entamoeba histolytica, Blastocystis hominis, and Entamoeba coli with the prevalence of 12 (3.9%), 9 (2.9%), and 6 (1.9%), respectively, . Six (1.9%) students showed coinfection by the 2 parasites. There was a significant relationship between the prevalence of the parasite and the variables of age, the source of drinking water, and the method of washing vegetables and fruits, but no significant relationship was observed between the prevalence of the parasite, and parents’ level of education and children’s gender. There was no case of infection with the worms. Conclusions: Similar to other recent studies, only protozoan infection was observed in the current study. Giardia lamblia had the highest infection rate. According to the pathogenesis properties of protozoan in the infected people, especially children, it is necessary to compile educational programs to control and prevent the aforementioned infections and other protozoan infections among the primary school students.