Prevalence of intestinal parasites among urban and rural population in Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu

Abstract

Background: Intestinal parasitic infections are globally endemic and is a major public health problem of concern. The prevalence is high in developing countries like India probably due to poor sanitary conditions and improper hygiene. Among the various intestinal parasites, the prevalence of Entamoeba, Ascaris, Ancylostoma, Giardia and Trichuris have been studied in this research.Methods: This is a cross sectional study which involves 205 urban and 185 rural populations. The data was collected from the Urban and Rural health training centres in Anakaputhur and Padappai of Kancheepuram district respectively over a period of three months from August 2017 to October 2017. Data entry was done in MS Excel and analysis was carried out in SPSS software version 22. The analysis was done using descriptive and analytical statistical methods.Results: Among the rural and urban population, 185 stool samples from the rural population showed nearly 50.8% intestinal parasites (E. histolytica 40%, A. lumbricoides 2%, A. duodenalae 5%, Giardia 1%, T. trichura 3%). On the contrary 205 stool samples from urban population showed 23.4% of intestinal parasites (E. histolytica 18%, A. lumbricoides 2%, A. duodenalae 5%, Giardia 0%, T. trichura 0%). The increase in the prevalence of intestinal parasites among rural population than the urban population was statistically significant.Conclusions: The stool samples collected from rural population showed high prevalence of intestinal parasite infestation when compared to urban population, hence necessary interventions like health education, awareness creation and medical intervention should be undertaken particularly among the rural population.