Prevalence of Intestinal Parasites in Saudi Children: a Community-based Study

A community-based study was undertaken to determine the prevalence and types of intestinal parasites in the pediatric population of Al-Baha region, Saudi Arabia. Stool samples were randomly collected from 19 939 children of whom 4208 (21.1%) were found to harbour intestinal parasites. The most affec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of tropical pediatrics (1980) 1995-02, Vol.41 (1), p.47-49
Main Authors: Al-Eissa, Youssef A., Assuhaimi, Sulaiman A., Abdullah, Asaad M. A., AboBakr, Abdullah M., Al-Husain, Muneera A., Al-Nasser, Mohammed N., Al Borno, Mohammed K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Age Factors
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Child, Preschool
Feces - parasitology
Female
General aspects
Humans
Infant
Infectious diseases
Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic - epidemiology
Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic - parasitology
Male
Medical sciences
Parasitic diseases
Prevalence
Saudi Arabia - epidemiology
Sex Factors
Tropical medicine
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Summary:A community-based study was undertaken to determine the prevalence and types of intestinal parasites in the pediatric population of Al-Baha region, Saudi Arabia. Stool samples were randomly collected from 19 939 children of whom 4208 (21.1%) were found to harbour intestinal parasites. The most affected age group was 5–9 years and the sex distribution was almost equal in all age groups. Specific prevalence rates were Giardia lamblia 9 per cent, Entamoeba histolytica 5 per cent, Hymenolepis nana 2 per cent, and Enterobius vermicularis 2 per cent. The findings of this survey confirm the extremely complex nature of parasitic profile in developing communities, and indicate that relationships exist between cultural and ecological factors, sanitation, and observed pattern of intestinal parasites.
ISSN:0142-6338
1465-3664
DOI:10.1093/tropej/41.1.47