Epidemiological Factors Affecting Prevalence of Intestinal Parasites in Children of Muzaffarabad District

-Prevalence of gastro-intestinal parasites in <15 years old children in Muzaffarabad city was 29.26%. Protozoal infection was higher than helminth infestation. Prevalence of Giardia lamblia (11.8%) was higher than Entamoeba histolytica (5.9%). Ascaris lumbricoides (3.8%) was the most prevalent helminth followed by hookworms (2.4%). Prevalence of all other helminths namely Enterobius vermicularis, Trichuris trichiura, Hymenolepis nana and Taenia saginata ranged from 1.0 to 1.7 percent. Mixed infection was seen only in 3.1% children. Rural children had higher prevalence of parasites than children living in city but the difference was statistically non-significant. After 2 years of age, the prevalence of parasites continued to decrease as the age of children increased. Family size and income did not have statistically significant effect on the prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in the children. The education of mother was the single and most important factor that influenced the prevalence of parasites in the children. The children of educated mother had 3.5 times less chance of being infected with parasites.