Abstract:
Intestinal protozoan parasitic infection is the major public health problem in many developing countries including Ethiopia. The present study was conducted to assess the common protozoan parasitic infections among school children and the associated determinant factors in Ashinga Primary School, Sayint district, Northeast Ethiopia. The design of the study was a crosssectional epidemiological investigation involving a sample population of 384 grade 1-8 school children in AshingaPrimary School which was purposively selected from the primary schools of the district. A total of 384 fresh stool samples of school-children were examined microscopically using direct wet mount, formal-ether concentration and Modified Ziehl-Neelsen methods(to identify Cryptosporidium parvum), to detect the presenceof intestinal protozoan parasitic infections. The results indicated that the overall prevalence of protozoan parasitic infections among students was 45.6% (46.4% in males and 44.8% in females). In this study, E. histolytica, G. lamblia and Cryptosporidium parvum were the most common intestinal protozoan parasites in the study population showing the prevalence of 31.3%, 11.7%, and 2.6, respectively. The intestinal protozoan parasitic infection (IPPIs) were significantly associated (p<0.05) with some of the determinant factors such as family occupation, source of drinking water, water handling practice, habit of eating raw vegetables, level of knowledge to personal hygiene and environmental sanitation, parent’s education level, presence or absence of latrine and latrine type. However, some other socio-demographic related factors, such as sex, age, and washing of vegetables or fruits before eating were not significantly associated (P>0.05) with IPPIs. In general, the study revealed that IPPIs represent a major public health problem among the school children of Ashinga Primary School and that the situation calls for immediate control measure.
