Frequency of Intestinal Parasitic Infestation among Children from Tertiary Care Center in Rural Sindh

Abstract

Aims: To determine the frequency of parasitic infestation among children in our setup. Study Design: Observational study Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at the department of Pediatric Medicine and Department of Pathology, Suleman Roshan Medical College and Hospital, Tando Adam, Pakistan from 17th October 2020 to 30th May 2021. Methods: A total of 2412 consecutive patients aged between 5 to 12 years, who attended the outpatient department for the complain of abdominal pain, diarrhea or dysentery, the clinically anemic cases, patients having history of occult blood (black stools) were included in the study. The demographic and clinical details of all the cases were collected on a structured proforma designed for the study. All the patients were investigated for stool examination. The patients already having negative stool report for parasite were excluded from the study. Microscopic examination of the fecal smear in normal saline was performed for the detection of any helminth or protozoal infection. The data collected was statistically analyzed and the results were tabulated. Results: 1316 (54.6%) samples were found positive for helminth or protozoal infection, and 1490 parasites were detected from a total of 2412 stool specimens collected and analyzed. Majority of the children were female 1344 (55.7%). The highest parasitosis (70.3%) was more common among 9-10 years age group. Abdominal pain was the main presenting complaint. The Entamoeba histolytica was most common protozoa in both male and female (24.6%), while helminthic infection like Ascaris lumbricoides was most common parasite detected in 47.2% of samples but more prevalent in male cases. Conclusion: The present study reveals a high frequency of parasitosis in our setup. Entamoeba histolytica was the commonest protozoa and Ascaris lumbricoides was the most frequent helminthic infection, abdominal pain being the main presenting complaint.