• Users Online: 2686
  • Home
  • Print this page
  • Email this page
Home Current issue Ahead of print Search About us Editorial board Archives Submit article Author Guidelines Subscribe Contacts Login 
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Year : 2018  |  Volume : 5  |  Issue : 2  |  Page : 78-85

Prevalence of enteric parasitic diseases among patients referred at a teaching hospital in Kenya


1 Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya
2 Department of Biological Sciences, School of Science, University of Eldoret, Eldoret, Kenya

Correspondence Address:
Prof. Chrispinus Siteti Mulambalah
Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Moi University, P. O. Box: 4606-30100, Eldoret
Kenya
Login to access the Email id

Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


DOI: 10.4103/jhrr.jhrr_7_18

Rights and Permissions

Aim: Enteric parasitic diseases pose a serious public health problem worldwide and yet are neglected. To refocus attention on these diseases, a cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the prevalence of enteric infections in patients referred to referral hospital in Kenya. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted from April to December 2015 and involved a randomly selected sample of 185 patients. Fecal specimens were collected and delivered to laboratory for analysis. Preliminary macroscopic assessment of specimens for segments, larvae, and adult stages was done. To confirm the presence of ova, trophozoites, cysts, and oocysts, direct wet smear, formol–ether concentration, and modified Ziehl–Neelsen techniques were used. Results: Overall prevalence of 46.5% of enteric parasitic diseases was confirmed. Highest and lowest prevalence was due to protozoans and helminthes, respectively. Protozoan parasite prevalence was Entamoeba histolytica (23.9%), Cryptosporidium parvum (13%), Entamoeba coli (6.5%), Giardia lamblia (6.5%), and Iodamoeba butschlii (6.5%). Helminth prevalence was Ascaris lumbricoides (1.6%), Hymenolepis nana, Trichuris trichiura, and Ancylostoma duodenale each (0.5%). There was no significant difference in prevalence in age groups and gender (P = 0.05). Females were at the highest risk of C. parvum infection. Polyparasitism was prevalent among protozoans than helminthes. Conclusion: High prevalence of protozoan infections was observed among referred patients in comparison to helminthiasis. Based on reported multiple infections, deworming programs targeting helminthiasis should be restructured to incorporate diagnosis and treatment of enteric protozoan infections to reduce prevalence of enteric parasitic infections.


[FULL TEXT] [PDF]*
Print this article     Email this article
 Next article
 Previous article
 Table of Contents

 Similar in PUBMED
   Search Pubmed for
   Search in Google Scholar for
 Related articles
 Citation Manager
 Access Statistics
 Reader Comments
 Email Alert *
 Add to My List *
 * Requires registration (Free)
 

 Article Access Statistics
    Viewed4993    
    Printed447    
    Emailed0    
    PDF Downloaded532    
    Comments [Add]    
    Cited by others 2    

Recommend this journal