Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Departments of Medical Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine (boys), Egypt
2
Departments of Medical Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine (boys), Egypt.
3
Departments of Medical Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, (Damietta), Egypt.
Abstract
Generally, the intestinal parasites are responsible for morbidity in school-aged children worldwide, especially in undeveloped countries. So a cross sectional random study was conducted from early October, 2017 to late December, 2017 and included 200 children attending primary schools in Gharbia Governorate, Egypt. All cases were subjected to (1) a questionnaire filled out by an interview with the child and/or one of his/her parents. (2) Fresh stool samples were taken for parasitological diagnosis and detection of intestinal parasites by direct smear method, simple floatation and formol-ether concentration techniques. (3) Blood samples were collected for estimation of blood indices (CBC) and serum ferritin level. Among the total 200 (100 males and 100 females) cases included in the present study, 96 (48%) (47 males and 49 females) were proved to be positive for parasitic infection. The prevalence rate of the intestinal parasites among studied children was; E. histolytica/dispar, 56 cases (58.33%) which was the most common parasite found. The other infections were: G. lamblia, 8 (8.33%) cases, S. mansoni, 6 (6.25%) cases, H. nana, 6 (6.25%) cases, E. vermicularis, 4 (4.16%) cases and poly parasites in16 (16.66%) cases. Distribution of hematological indices among children was: Total 110 cases had anemia; 51 males (34 infected and 17 non-infected) and 59 females (38 infected and 21 non-infected). No children had severe anemia and iron store of them was adequate. Among 96 cases infected; 50 cases (52.08%) had normocytic normochromic anemia, 22 cases (22.91%) had microcytic hypochromic anemia and 24 cases (25%) were not anemic. There was a strong association between G. lamblia infection and presence of anemia as it was noted that all the 8 infected cases had anemia while 6 cases (75%) of them showed decrease in serum ferritin level. Among the 56 cases that had E. histolytica/dispar infection, 42 of them were anemic, while among the 6 cases of schistosomiasis mansoni, 4 cases of them were anemic. Regarding the 6 cases infected with H. nana, 4 cases of them were anemic while among 16 cases of mixed parasitic infection, only 14 cases were anemic. It was also noted that all the 4 cases suffering from E. vermicularis infection were not anemic. Only 13 cases suffering from parasitic infections had low serum ferritin. Four of them had moderate type while the other 9 children had mild type. Non infected children had normal ferritin level. It is of interest to found that; 3 cases infected with G. lamblia had moderate decrease in serum ferritin level > 8ng/ml. One case had mixed infection had moderate decrease in serum ferritin level. In conclusion, the present study showed a high prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection correlated with anemia which calls for a comprehensive public health intervention and regular parasitic screening in school-aged children.
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