Introduction- Intestinal protozoan infections continue to remain a global public health challenge, particularly in developing countries. Children are greatly prone to these infections via the ingestion of food, water or soil contaminated with the infective stage of these parasites. Objectives- This study focused on establishing the prevalence of intestinal protozoan infection among primary school children aged 5 to 12 years from six communities in the Kumasi metropolis of Ghana. Methods- A total of 2400 children were randomly selected sampled. Stool samples collected from the children were analyzed using the formol-ether concentration technique. The modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining technique was employed in the identification of Cryptosporidium parvum. Results- The overall prevalence of intestinal protozoan identified among the studied school children was 42.9%. Prevalence was significantly higher in males than females with rates of 51.0% (604/1162) and 30.8% (381/1238) respectively. The highest protozoan infestation was Giardia lamblia with a prevalence of 16.8% (195/1162) and 7.8 % (97/1238) in males and females respectively. Three pathogenic strains (Giardia lamblia, Entamoeba histolytica/dispar and Cryptosporidium parvum) and four non-pathogenic species (Entamoeba coli, Endolimax nana, Chilomastix mesnili and Iodamoeba butschlii) were identified in the study. Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium parvum recorded prevalence rates of 12.2% and 8.5% respectively. Prevalence was however proportional to age with respect to Endolimax nana and Iodamoeba butschlii infections. Conclusion- There is relatively high prevalence of intestinal protozoan infection among the studied children. This obviously suggests that there are possible household, school based and behaviour oriented risk factors which predispose the children to these parasites.
| DOI | 10.11648/j.sjph.20140202.12 |
| Published in | Science Journal of Public Health (Volume 2, Issue 2, March 2014) |
| Page(s) | 52-57 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Intestinal Protozoan, Parasites, Pathogenic
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APA Style
Williams Walana, Samuel Crowther Kofi Tay, Philip Tetteh, Juventus Benogle Ziem. (2014). Prevalence of Intestinal Protozoan Infestation among Primary School Children in Urban and Peri-Urban Communities in Kumasi, Ghana. Science Journal of Public Health, 2(2), 52-57. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20140202.12
ACS Style
Williams Walana; Samuel Crowther Kofi Tay; Philip Tetteh; Juventus Benogle Ziem. Prevalence of Intestinal Protozoan Infestation among Primary School Children in Urban and Peri-Urban Communities in Kumasi, Ghana. Sci. J. Public Health 2014, 2(2), 52-57. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20140202.12
AMA Style
Williams Walana, Samuel Crowther Kofi Tay, Philip Tetteh, Juventus Benogle Ziem. Prevalence of Intestinal Protozoan Infestation among Primary School Children in Urban and Peri-Urban Communities in Kumasi, Ghana. Sci J Public Health. 2014;2(2):52-57. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20140202.12
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Download@article{10.11648/j.sjph.20140202.12,
author = {Williams Walana and Samuel Crowther Kofi Tay and Philip Tetteh and Juventus Benogle Ziem},
title = {Prevalence of Intestinal Protozoan Infestation among Primary School Children in Urban and Peri-Urban Communities in Kumasi, Ghana},
journal = {Science Journal of Public Health},
volume = {2},
number = {2},
pages = {52-57},
doi = {10.11648/j.sjph.20140202.12},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20140202.12},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjph.20140202.12},
abstract = {Introduction- Intestinal protozoan infections continue to remain a global public health challenge, particularly in developing countries. Children are greatly prone to these infections via the ingestion of food, water or soil contaminated with the infective stage of these parasites. Objectives- This study focused on establishing the prevalence of intestinal protozoan infection among primary school children aged 5 to 12 years from six communities in the Kumasi metropolis of Ghana. Methods- A total of 2400 children were randomly selected sampled. Stool samples collected from the children were analyzed using the formol-ether concentration technique. The modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining technique was employed in the identification of Cryptosporidium parvum. Results- The overall prevalence of intestinal protozoan identified among the studied school children was 42.9%. Prevalence was significantly higher in males than females with rates of 51.0% (604/1162) and 30.8% (381/1238) respectively. The highest protozoan infestation was Giardia lamblia with a prevalence of 16.8% (195/1162) and 7.8 % (97/1238) in males and females respectively. Three pathogenic strains (Giardia lamblia, Entamoeba histolytica/dispar and Cryptosporidium parvum) and four non-pathogenic species (Entamoeba coli, Endolimax nana, Chilomastix mesnili and Iodamoeba butschlii) were identified in the study. Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium parvum recorded prevalence rates of 12.2% and 8.5% respectively. Prevalence was however proportional to age with respect to Endolimax nana and Iodamoeba butschlii infections. Conclusion- There is relatively high prevalence of intestinal protozoan infection among the studied children. This obviously suggests that there are possible household, school based and behaviour oriented risk factors which predispose the children to these parasites.},
year = {2014}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Prevalence of Intestinal Protozoan Infestation among Primary School Children in Urban and Peri-Urban Communities in Kumasi, Ghana AU - Williams Walana AU - Samuel Crowther Kofi Tay AU - Philip Tetteh AU - Juventus Benogle Ziem Y1 - 2014/01/30 PY - 2014 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20140202.12 DO - 10.11648/j.sjph.20140202.12 T2 - Science Journal of Public Health JF - Science Journal of Public Health JO - Science Journal of Public Health SP - 52 EP - 57 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2328-7950 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20140202.12 AB - Introduction- Intestinal protozoan infections continue to remain a global public health challenge, particularly in developing countries. Children are greatly prone to these infections via the ingestion of food, water or soil contaminated with the infective stage of these parasites. Objectives- This study focused on establishing the prevalence of intestinal protozoan infection among primary school children aged 5 to 12 years from six communities in the Kumasi metropolis of Ghana. Methods- A total of 2400 children were randomly selected sampled. Stool samples collected from the children were analyzed using the formol-ether concentration technique. The modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining technique was employed in the identification of Cryptosporidium parvum. Results- The overall prevalence of intestinal protozoan identified among the studied school children was 42.9%. Prevalence was significantly higher in males than females with rates of 51.0% (604/1162) and 30.8% (381/1238) respectively. The highest protozoan infestation was Giardia lamblia with a prevalence of 16.8% (195/1162) and 7.8 % (97/1238) in males and females respectively. Three pathogenic strains (Giardia lamblia, Entamoeba histolytica/dispar and Cryptosporidium parvum) and four non-pathogenic species (Entamoeba coli, Endolimax nana, Chilomastix mesnili and Iodamoeba butschlii) were identified in the study. Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium parvum recorded prevalence rates of 12.2% and 8.5% respectively. Prevalence was however proportional to age with respect to Endolimax nana and Iodamoeba butschlii infections. Conclusion- There is relatively high prevalence of intestinal protozoan infection among the studied children. This obviously suggests that there are possible household, school based and behaviour oriented risk factors which predispose the children to these parasites. VL - 2 IS - 2 ER -
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