The Prevalence of Intestinal Parasite Infections among School Children in a Tropical Rainforest Community in Southeastern Nigeria

Abstract

The prevalence of intestinal helminthes among schoolchildren of both sexes in a tropical rainforest community of Southeastern Nigeria was investigated. A total of 340 children were examined during the study with 230 (75.7%) of them infected with at least one helminth parasite. Among 117 urban and 187 rural schoolchildren who participated in the study, 74 (63.3%) and 156 (83.4%) urban and rural schoolchildren were respectively shedding at least one intestinal helminth parasite in their faeces. Four different intestinal helminth parasites including Trichuris trichura (34.5%), Hookworms (33.7%), Ascaris lumbricoides (22.7%) and Strongyloides stercoralis (3.6%) were encountered in the faecal samples examined. Mixed infections were more common (p<0.05) in rural than in urban schoolchildren, as well as in females than in their male counterparts. The influence of age, socio-economic status of the children and implication of the findings on the prevalence of intestinal helminths is discussed.