| dc.description.abstract | The prevalence study of intestinal parasites presented here involved
592 out-patients of whom 310 (52.4%) were males and 282 (47.6%)
were females, at three City Council health centres in Nairobi. The
age ranged 1 year to 71 years, with a mean of 24.8 years. Fresh
stool samples were collected in pre-labelled plastic containers from
the study population and examined for intestinal parasites using
three methods: direct smear in normal saline, formol-ether
concentration and modified Zeihl-Neelsen staining technique for
detecting Cryptosporidium sp. A standard questionnaire was
administered to each patient to obtain information on their ethnic
background, age, sex, duration of stay in Nairobi, water source,
toilet facilities and level of education.
The overall parasitic infection rate was 56% (332/592) in which
57.2% (190/332) of the infected participants had multiple
infections. Of the 332 patients infected with parasites, 238
(71.7%) harboured protozoa only, 41 (12.3%) had helminths only
and 53 (16%) were infected with both protozoa and helminths. The
most common protozoal infections were: Entamoeba coli 165
(27.9%), Endolimax nana 111(18.7%), Entamoeba histolytica
93(15.7%) and Blastocystis hominis 63 (10.6%). Helminthic
infections were much less prevalent than protozoa. The most
prevalent helminths were: hookworm sp 43(7.3%), Ascaris
lumbricoides 27(4.5%) and Trichuris trichiura 21(3.5%). The most
infected age groups were 21 - 25 and 26 - 30 years old. Drinking
of unboiled water was strongly associated with both protozoal
(X2 = 10.8; P<0.001) and helminthic infections (X2 = 16.3 ;
P<0.001)
The high parasitic infection rate and the frequency of multiple
infections may suggest an interrelationship of environmental,
hygienic and socio-economic factors which support transmission
rather than single factor. The results of this study emphasises the
need to carry out a prevalence studies on intestinal parasites from
time to time to enable health planners to improve sanitary condition
of the community. | en |
