July 2020 Vol. 8 No.7

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Original Research Article

Prevalence of Intestinal Helminths Infestation and Associated Risk Factors among Pupils in Basic Schools at Aboshareef Area, Kosti Locality, White Nile State, Sudan, 2019

Mohammed Elmadani¹ , Abdelrhman A.G. Altijani^1,2, Babiker Saad Almugadam³ and Abdelhakam G. Tamomh^4*

¹Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Public and Environmental Health, University of El Imam El Mahdi, Kosti, Sudan
²Integrated Control of Communicable Diseases, College of Applied Medical Science, King Khalid University, KSA.
³Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medical Laboratory Sciences, University of El Imam El Mahdi, Kosti, Sudan
⁴Department of Parasitology and Medical Entomology, Faculty of Medical Laboratory Sciences, University of El Imam El Mahdi, Kosti, Sudan

*Corresponding Author E-mail: abdelhakam738@gmail.com / abdelhakam738@mahdi.edu.sd

Received: 02 May 2020  I  Accepted: 9 July 2020  I  Published: 28 July 2020
Copyright © 2020 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article.
This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0.

Abstract

Intestinal helminths infections are major parasitic diseases causing public health problems in Sudan, especially among children. A cross-sectional school-based study was conducted among pupils to estimate the prevalence of intestinal helminths and associated factors. We enrolled a total of 337 pupils selected in this study. Data were collected using a structured pre-tested questionnaire. Fresh stool samples collected and examined using duplicate Kato-Katz techniques. The presence of eggs considers a positive result. The sample size was distributed proportionally over the schools according to the weight and sampling unit was selected using simple random sampling. Data were collected through trained data collectors and analyzed using SPSS version 25. The prevalence of intestinal helminths among primary school pupils was 39.2%. The types of helminths detected in this study are hookworm with a prevalence of 24%, followed by A. lumbricoides 11%, Trichuris trichiura 4.2%, Hymenolepis nana 3.3%, Taenia species 3.6% and Entrobius vermicularis 5.9%. A high association was observed between infection with helminths and sex (p <0.001), source of drinking water (p < 0.05), the type of toilet at school (p <0.001), absence of sanitary facilities near or inside latrine in houses (p > 0.05) and educational level of the mother (p <0.001). Therefore, studying the prevalence of intestinal helminths among primary school pupils with the associated risk factors in developing countries may predict health status. Therefore, help in better diagnosis, the efficacy of medicine and improve public health.

Keywords: Aboshareef, Intestinal helminths, Kato-Katz, Kosti, Prevalence, Sudan