Gastrointestinal protozoan parasites amongst school children in Inanam, Sabah
Intestinal parasitosis is still an important public health problem. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal protozoan parasites (GIP) in schoolchilden and its association with socio-economic and environmental factors. A series of sample collections for stool was...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Universiti Malaysia Sabah
2008
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/20207/1/Gastrointestinal%20protozoan%20parasites%20amongst%20school%20children%20in%20Inanam.pdf https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/20207/ http://wwwsst.ums.edu.my/data/file/PC41WThdnKi8.pdf |
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| Summary: | Intestinal parasitosis is still an important public health problem. The aim
of this study was to determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal protozoan parasites
(GIP) in schoolchilden and its association with socio-economic and environmental
factors. A series of sample collections for stool was carried out in Sekolah Kebangsaan
Inanam II, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Samples from 100 schoolchildren were examined by
direct smear and formol-ether concentration techniques. The modified Kato-Katz
technique was performed to estimate the parasitic burden, expressed in the number of
protozoa per gram of stool. The proportion of overall infected samples was 31%. When
ranked by proportion, parasite loads were found as follows: Entamoeba histolytica
(83.87%), Giardia lamblia (35.48%), Entamoeba coli (22.58%), Entamoeba hartmanni
(25.81%), Iodamoeba butschlii (19.35%) and Endolimax nana (6.45%). Both single and
double infections in the study had equal percentages (35.48%), followed triple infection
(29.03%). There were no significant effects of protozoan infection on weight, height,
attendance to school and examination results of the schoolchildren (Independent Group
t-Test; p > 0.05). No significant association were found between the protozoan infection
and the socio-economic and environmental factors (gender, age, occupation status of
mother, house area category and the degree of household crowding). We conclude that
the parasitic burden amongst the schoolchildren of Sekolah Kebangsaan Inanam II is
minimal and is of less concerned. |
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