Prevalence of Intestinal Parasite  Infections and Their Associated Risk  Factors Among Primary and Secondary  Schools Students in Gilgel Beles Town,  Northwest Ethiopia

Sintayehu, Shituneh

dc.contributor.author	Sintayehu, Shituneh
dc.date.accessioned	2022-09-21T12:31:43Z
dc.date.available	2022-09-21T12:31:43Z
dc.date.issued	2022-07
dc.identifier.uri	http://ir.bdu.edu.et/handle/123456789/14243
dc.description.abstract	Intestinal parasite infections (IPIs) are among the major public health problems in developing countries like Ethiopia. Local updated epidemiological data about IPIs are indispensable to design and monitor prevention and control strategies for them. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of IPIs and associated factors among students of Gilgel Beles towns, Northwest Ethiopia. A school-based cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted from February to March 2022. A total of 379 study participants who were drawn from two primary and secondary schools using a simple random sampling method were involved in the study. The socio-demographic and potential risk factors of IPIs were collected using a pre-tested and structured questionnaire. In addition, stool samples were collected from 379 study participants and were subjected for laboratory parasitological examinations using direct wet mount and formol-ether concentration technique for detection of intestinal parasite species. All collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 23. The counts of the parasites detection were analyzed using frequency and percent. The associations of the risk factors with IPIs were analyzed by the Chi-square (χ2 ). Further, the strengths of associations of potential risk factors were analyzed using Univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Out of the 379 students whose stools were examined for IPIs, 142 (37.5%) were positive for at least one IPIs. The prevalence of single and double infections with intestinal parasites among the study participants were 34.6% and 2.9%, respectively. A total of eight intestinal parasite species were detected from the stool samples of the study participants. Of these, Giardia lamblia was the predominant parasite species (15.6%), followed by Ascaris lumbricoides (7.1%), Entamoeba histolytica/dispar (6.3%), hookworms (4%), Schistosoma mansoni (1.9%), Hymenolepis nana (1.6%), T. trichiura (0.8%), and Taenia saginata (0.3%). A statistically significant difference in the prevalence of IPIs was found in the schools, grade levels, age groups, family size, mother‟s education, mother‟s occupation, living with domestic animals, cleanliness of toilet, farness of toilet from home, farness of toilet from the playfield, sources of drinking water, shoe wearing habits, types of shoe, frequency of bathing, and habit of using soap (P < 0.05). The household toilet closer to the home (AOR = 1.856; 95%CI: 1.047, 3.293; P = 0.034) and not wearing shoe (AOR = 1.439: 95%CI: 0.128, 16.172; P = 0.027) were potential risk factors associated with overall IPIs. The prevalence of IPIs was high in Gilgel Beles; therefore, health education, mass anti-parasitic drug administration, and maintaining environmental and school hygiene are recommended.	en_US
dc.language.iso	en	en_US
dc.subject	Biology	en_US
dc.title	Prevalence of Intestinal Parasite Infections and Their Associated Risk Factors Among Primary and Secondary Schools Students in Gilgel Beles Town, Northwest Ethiopia	en_US
dc.type	Thesis	en_US