1. High rate of intestinal parasites among a closed community of Zay populations residing on three islands of Lake Ziway, Ethiopia.
- Author
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Micho H, Fantahun M, Gebreyohannes Z, Bedaso A, Bereka N, Abebayehu B, Mekonnen AB, Taye B, Desta K, and Tsegaye A
- Subjects
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Animals, Child, Cross-Sectional Studies, Ethiopia epidemiology, Feces parasitology, Female, Humans, Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic parasitology, Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic pathology, Lakes parasitology, Male, Middle Aged, Risk Factors, Schistosoma mansoni pathogenicity, Young Adult, Gastrointestinal Tract parasitology, Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic epidemiology, Schistosoma mansoni genetics, Schistosoma mansoni isolation & purification
- Abstract
Background: Several factors including socio-economic and access to health facility influence burden of intestinal parasites. Epidemiological data from hard to reach areas will help to identify high-risk communities for targeted intervention. We, therefore, assessed the magnitude of intestinal parasites among Zay people residing in three islands of Lake Ziway in Ethiopia., Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted in March 2013 on 444 individuals aged 6 months to 85 years. Stool samples were analyzed using wet mount and formol-ether concentration methods. Data were collected using interviewer-administered questionnaire and analyzed using STATA version 10., Results: Among the study participants, 52% (321/444) were children under 15 years. While 72.8% were positive for at least one intestinal parasite, single, dual and triple infections were found in 42.1%, 23.9% and 6.3%, respectively. Four types of intestinal parasites were detected in two children. The commonest parasites were Entamoeba histolytica/dispar (51.4%), Schistosoma mansoni (17.8%), Giardia lamblia (14.4%), Trichuris trichiura (10.8%), Taenia species (5.6%), Hymenolopis nana (4.5%), Ascaris lumbricoides (4.1%), Entrobius vermicularis (0.9%), Hookworm (0.7%), and Strongyloides stercoralis (0.2%). Remarkable proportion of study participants (51.3%) had no latrine and >85% of the islanders use the lake water for drinking, cleaning or both. About 36% had no information about waterborne and related diseases, while 31% never heard about bilharziasis. Fishing and farming were the main source of income. In the multivariate model, being in the age group > 15 years (AOR = 0.49; 95%CI = 0.28-0.85) and not using lake water for drinking or washing (AOR = 0.52; 95%CI = 0.28-0.99) had protective effect, after adjusting for education, occupation and hand wash after latrine use., Conclusion: The observed high rate of intestinal parasites (72.8%) in these hard to reach Islanders of Lake Ziway, warrants targeted and sustainable intervention., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
- Published
- 2020
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