| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2019 | Volume
: 12
| Issue : 3 | Page : 130-136 |
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Status of intestinal parasitic infections among rural and urban populations, southwestern Iran
Molouk Beiromvand1, Esmat Panabad2, Abdollah Rafiei1
1 Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Health Research Institute; Department of Parasitology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of MedicalSciences, Ahvaz, Iran
2 Department of Parasitology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of MedicalSciences, Ahvaz, Iran
Correspondence Address:
Abdollah Rafiei
Department of Parasitology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Science, Ahvaz
Iran
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | 3 |
DOI: 10.4103/1995-7645.254939
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Objective: To evaluate the prevalence and risk factors of intestinal parasitic infections in the urban and rural areas of Shushtar County, southwest Iran.
Methods: A total of 1 008 fecal samples were analyzed by direct smear examination, formalin-ether concentration, and Ziehl-Neelsen and trichrome staining; furthermore, PCR was used to distinguish Trichostrongylus and hookworm species based on 28S rRNA gene.
Results: Totally, 16.0% cases tested positive, either with a pathogenic or a non-pathogenic parasite. Protozoa were detected in 14.0%, helminths in 1.0%, protozoa and helminth co-infections were detected in 0.3%, and co-infections of two protozoa were detected in 0.7% of cases. The most common protozoa and helminths were Giardia duodenalis (7.7%) and Trichostrongylus spp. (0.5%), respectively. Among five microscopy Trichostrongylus positive cases, Trichostrongylus culbriformis was successfully identified in three isolates by sequencing. In the rural areas, the prevalence of parasitic infection was higher (9.8%) than that in the urban areas (6.2%). A significant association was found between educational level, type of drinking water, animals contact, hand-washing, and clinical symptoms.
Conclusions: This study indicates that intestinal parasitic infections remain as a public health priority in Shushtar County. It seems that drinking water and environmental sanitation are the main risk factors of parasitic infections in rural areas.
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