Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections and associated risk factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care center at Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital, northwest Ethiopia

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Background

Parasitic infections affect tens of millions of pregnant women worldwide, and directly or indirectly lead to a spectrum of adverse maternal and fetal/placental effects. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of intestinal parasite infections and associated risk factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care center in Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital, Bahir Dar city, northwest Ethiopia.

Methods

A cross-sectional hospital based study was conducted from November 2013 to January 2014 among 384 pregnant women. Stool samples were examined for the presence of trophozoites, cysts, oocysts, and ova using direct, formal-ether sedimentation, and modified Ziehl-Neelsen techniques.

Results

An overall prevalence of 31.5 % intestinal parasite infections was recorded. Eight different species of intestinal parasites were found: two protozoan and six helminth species. The highest prevalence was due to Giardia lamblia (13.3 %) followed by Entamoeba histolytica/ dispar (7.8 %), hookworm (5.5 %), Ascaris lumbricoides (2.9 %), Schistosoma mansoni (2.9 %), Strongyloides stercoralis (1.6 %), Taenia spp. (0.8 %), and Hymenolepis nana (0.3 %).

Conclusions

A relatively high prevalence of intestinal parasite infections was observed among pregnant women. Routine stool examination and provision of health education are required for early medical intervention that would affect the pregnant mothers and their foetuses.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12879-016-1859-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Related collections

Most cited references 38

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Epidemiology and control of human gastrointestinal parasites in children.

Michael Harhay, John Horton, Piero L. Olliaro (2010)

Parasites found in the human gastrointestinal tract can be largely categorized into two groups, protozoa and helminths. The soil-transmitted helminths (Ascaris lumbricoides, hookworm and Trichuris trichiura) are the most prevalent, infecting an estimated one-sixth of the global population. Infection rates are highest in children living in sub-Saharan Africa, followed by Asia and then Latin America and the Caribbean. The current momentum towards global drug delivery for their control is at a historical high through the efforts of numerous initiatives increasingly acting in coordination with donors, governments and local communities. Together, they have delivered enormous quantities of drugs, especially anthelmintics to children through nationwide annual or biannual mass drug administration largely coordinated through schools. However, a much larger and rapidly growing childhood population in these regions remains untreated and suffering from more than one parasite. Mass drug administration has profound potential for control but is not without considerable challenges and concerns. A principal barrier is funding. Stimulating a research and development pipeline, supporting the necessary clinical trials to refine treatment, in addition to procuring and deploying drugs (and sustaining these supply chains), requires substantial funding and resources that do not presently exist. Limited options for chemotherapy raise concerns about drug resistance developing through overuse, however, satisfactory pharmaco-epidemiology and monitoring for drug resistance requires more developed health infrastructures than are generally available. Further, the limited pharmacopeia does not include any effective second-line options if resistance emerges, and the research and development pipeline is severely depressed. Herein, we discuss the major gastrointestinal protozoa and helminths reviewing their impact on child health, changing epidemiology and how this relates to their control.

0 comments Cited 92 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: found

Is Open Access

Role of the employment status and education of mothers in the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections in Mexican rural schoolchildren

Luis Quihui-Cota, Mauro Valencia, David Crompton … (2006)

Background Intestinal parasitic infections are a public health problem in developing countries such as Mexico. As a result, two governmental programmes have been implemented: a) "National Deworming Campaign" and b) "Opportunities" aimed at maternal care. However, both programmes are developed separately and their impact is still unknown. We independently investigated whether a variety of socio-economic factors, including maternal education and employment levels, were associated with intestinal parasite infection in rural school children. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in 12 rural communities in two Mexican states. The study sites and populations were selected on the basis of the following traits: a) presence of activities by the national administration of albendazole, b) high rates of intestinal parasitism, c) little access to medical examination, and d) a population having less than 2,500 inhabitants. A total of 507 schoolchildren (mean age 8.2 years) were recruited and 1,521 stool samples collected (3 per child). Socio-economic information was obtained by an oral questionnaire. Regression modelling was used to determine the association of socio-economic indicators and intestinal parasitism. Results More than half of the schoolchildren showed poliparasitism (52%) and protozoan infections (65%). The prevalence of helminth infections was higher in children from Oaxaca (53%) than in those from Sinaloa (33%) (p < 0.0001). Giardia duodenalis and Hymenolepis nana showed a high prevalence in both states. Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and Entamoeba hystolitica/dispar showed low prevalence. Children from lower-income families and with unemployed and less educated mothers showed higher risk of intestinal parasitism (odds ratio (OR) 6.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.6–22.6; OR 4.5, 95% CI 2.5–8.2; OR 3.3, 95% CI 1.5–7.4 respectively). Defecation in open areas was also a high risk factor for infection (OR 2.4, 95% CI 2.0–3.0). Conclusion Intestinal parasitism remains an important public health problem in Sinaloa (north-western Mexico) and Oaxaca (south-eastern Mexico). Lower income, defecation in open areas, employment status and a lower education level of mothers were the significant factors related to these infections. We conclude that mothers should be involved in health initiatives to control intestinal parasitism in Mexico.

0 comments Cited 68 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Associations between mild-to-moderate anaemia in pregnancy and helminth, malaria and HIV infection in Entebbe, Uganda

Lawrence Muhangi, Patrick Woodburn, Mildred Omara … (2007)

Summary It is suggested that helminths, particularly hookworm and schistosomiasis, may be important causes of anaemia in pregnancy. We assessed the associations between mild-to-moderate anaemia (haemoglobin >8.0 g/dl and <11.2 g/dl) and helminths, malaria and HIV among 2507 otherwise healthy pregnant women at enrolment to a trial of deworming in pregnancy in Entebbe, Uganda. The prevalence of anaemia was 39.7%. The prevalence of hookworm was 44.5%, Mansonella perstans 21.3%, Schistosoma mansoni 18.3%, Strongyloides 12.3%, Trichuris 9.1%, Ascaris 2.3%, asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum parasitaemia 10.9% and HIV 11.9%. Anaemia showed little association with the presence of any helminth, but showed a strong association with malaria (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 3.22, 95% CI 2.43–4.26) and HIV (AOR 2.46, 95% CI 1.90–3.19). There was a weak association between anaemia and increasing hookworm infection intensity. Thus, although highly prevalent, helminths showed little association with mild-to-moderate anaemia in this population, but HIV and malaria both showed a strong association. This result may relate to relatively good nutrition and low helminth infection intensity. These findings are pertinent to estimating the disease burden of helminths and other infections in pregnancy. [Clinical Trial No. ISRCTN32849447]

0 comments Cited 51 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Contributors

Adane Derso: adanedm.ad@gmail.com

Endalkachew Nibret: endtg2002@yahoo.com

Abaineh Munshea: abitew2003@yahoo.com

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): BMC Infect Dis

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): BMC Infect. Dis

Title: BMC Infectious Diseases

Publisher: BioMed Central (London )

ISSN (Electronic): 1471-2334

Publication date (Electronic): 30 September 2016

Publication date PMC-release: 30 September 2016

Publication date Collection: 2016

Volume: 16

Electronic Location Identifier: 530

Affiliations

Department of Biology, College of Science, Bahir Dar University, P.O.Box 79, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

Article

Publisher ID: 1859

DOI: 10.1186/s12879-016-1859-6

PMC ID: 5045606

PubMed ID: 26729246

SO-VID: 3823f79e-9086-42c3-999e-bb6166b8f91e

License:

Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.