Abstract:
Intestinal parasitic infections are growing problems worldwide and have been described as
constituting the greatest worldwide cause of illnesses and deaths. Entamoeba histolytica / dispar
and Giardia lamblia are major causes of infection among protozoan parasites which infect most
school children. However, there was no research conducted so far in this regard in the selected
study area. Thus, the major objective of the present study was to assess the prevalence of
parasitic intestinal protozoan infections and its associated risk factors among students of
Yeidwuha Primary School. The design of the study was included a cross-sectional school based
epidemiological investigation and a laboratory based experimental survey method involving 336
student participants selected using systematic random sampling technique. Epidemiological data
were collected using a structured questionnaire while laboratory-based data were collected
using microscopic examination of stool samples for parasites. All data were analyzed using SPSS
version 20 statistical software. A total of 336 stool samples were collected from participants and
examined using wet mount technique to detect the presence of intestinal protozoan parasites. The
results indicated that the overall prevalence of intestinal protozoan parasitic infection was
31.25% with higher prevalence of Entamoeba hitolytica/ dispar (18.15%) followed by Giardia
lamblia (11.9%). Double infections were also recorded in 1.2% of the study participants. Sociodemographic
factors like family occupation, and hygienic practices such as water source, water
treatment at home, hand washing habit, place of excretion, cleanness of fingernails, habit of
playing with soil or mud showed significant association with prevalence of parasitic intestinal
protozoan infection in the study area (p<0.005). This study has revealed that Etamoeba
histolytica/ dispar and Giardia lamblia were the major parasites that had infected students
during the study period at Yeidwuha Primary School ,Shebel Berenta District, East Amhara
Regional State. Thus on the basis of these findings awareness creation for Yeidwuha primary
school community through health education is important to keep school compound clean
