Abstract:
Shawa Zone of Oromia Region, Ethiopia from March-April, 2017. A total of 384 fresh
stool samples of school-children were examined using direct wet mount, formol-ether
concentration and Modified Ziehl-Neelsen methods and 72 water samples from different
sources were examined to detect the presence of water-borne parasites. The resulst
indicated that the overall prevalence of water-borne parasitic infections among students
was 38.0%. The result revealed that Giardia lamblia, Entamoeba histolytica,
Cryptosporidium species, Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura were the common
water-borne parasites in the study population with prevalence of 14.3%, 8.6%, 2.1%,
10.7%, and 2.3%, respectively. The prevalence of water-borne parasitic infections was
significantly associated with some of the risk factors, such as family size, presence or
absence of latrine, source of drinking water, water handling practices, awareness to
personal hygiene and environmental sanitation and awareness to water-borne parasitic
infections (p0.05 for each). However, some other socio-demographic related factors,
such as sex, age and parent’s educational level were not significantly associated with
water-borne parasitic infections (p0.05 for each). The parasitological analysis of water
samples in this study demonstrated that 100% of the samples taken from unprotected
water sources were positive with one or more water-borne parasites cysts, oocysts and/or ova. The study has revealed that water-borne parasites represent a major public health
problem amongst the school children of Efa Beri primary school. Therefore, health
education related to personal hygiene and environmental sanitation and cost effective
water purification mechanisms were recommended to minimize the risk and exposure of
water-borne parasitic infections in the stud area.
