Abstract
Background: Parasitic infections, especially intestinal agents could affect social and personal hygiene and health; and to avoid the spread of pollution, monitoring the infectious sources is critical. Objective: The aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of intestinal parasites and identify factors associated with intestinal parasitic infections among students of Jahrom University of Medical Sciences between 2013-1014. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out between September 2013and February 2014. A total number of 1293 stool samples were taken from 431 students and were examined by direct wet mounting and formalin-ether methods. A questionnaire for common risk factors was completed for each individual. Results: Overall, the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections was estimated to be 125 (29%) that infected by pathogenic and non-pathogenic intestinal parasites. Various species of protozoan infections were detected: Entamoeba coli was the most common parasite (9.04%) followed by Blastocystis hominis (8.12%), and Giardia lamblia (4.64%). About 3.2% students were infected with multiple parasites. A significant association was observed between the prevalence of intestinal parasite infections with the type of accommodation (OR=1. 5; 95% CI: 1.1; 1.9), parents’ educational level (OR=1. 5; 95% CI: 1.1; 1.9) and gender (OR=1. 5; 95% CI: 1.1; 1.9). No age association was detected, and a slightly positive prevalence with increasing age was observed (p=0.66). Conclusions: These data showed intestinal parasites were slightly more prevalent than expected, that might be due to interior sources of infection in college, such as carrier students. Hence, performing periodic monitoring among students is a necessity to promote the hygiene of the students.
Highlights
F: Parasitic infections, especially those caused by intestinal agents could affect social and personal hygiene and health; and to avoid the spread of pollution, monitoring the infectious sources is critical
Given that there is no information on the prevalence of the intestinal parasites among the students of universities in the south of Iran, this study aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors of infection among students of Jahrom University of Medical Sciences
The students were classified based on age, and the results showed that the distribution was 107 for students aged
Summary
F: Parasitic infections, especially those caused by intestinal agents could affect social and personal hygiene and health; and to avoid the spread of pollution, monitoring the infectious sources is critical. Intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) have been often described as a significant public health and socioeconomic problem in developing countries such as Iran though it is globally pandemic.[1,2,3] For this reason, always national programs for fighting against the IPIs have been important Such programs help to find endemic level of various intestinal parasites and might help to clarify whether widespread or focal measures are needed for control of the parasites. Lack of access to healthy water and poor hygiene, low socioeconomic status, malnutrition, marginalization, high population density, illiteracy and other factors give rise to parasitic infections.[7,8] These conditions threaten the population of the country and the individuals that are more prone to intestinal parasites.
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