Intestinal Parasites in Katalum-Sadatmahelleh Region of Ramsar During the Years 1989-1990

Since contamination with intestinal parasites is one of the major health problems in all of the countries including Iran and considering its prevalence in northern Iran, this study was performed to determine the fauna and prevalence for intestinal parasites in Katalum-Sadatmahelleh region of Ramsar. The descriptive and cross-sectional protocol of this study was carried out on 1174 samples of feces in different age groups from October 1989 until June 1990 by the formalin-ether precipitation method. In this respect the effect of various factors such as age, gender, knowledge, type of drinking water and geographical region was studied. For determination of prevalence for Oxyuris in affected children under 12 years and their families, 4, 3, and 177 samples of scotch tape were collected and examined. The prevalence was 71.3% for the studied population. In addition, the prevalence for intestinal protozoa and helminths were 61.5% and 26% respectively. The maximum rate of contamination for protozoa was for Giardia lamblia (32.6%) and Entamoeba coli (24.1 %) and for intestinal helminths was for Trichocephalis (5.6%). The prevalence for Oxyuris was obtained 54.9% for children under 12 and 42.9% for their families. Furthermore there existed a significant difference for Giardia, Strongyloides, and Oxyuris in different age groups (P≤0.001) and prevalence for Tricocephalis and Strongyloides was twice in males than females and this difference was significant statistically. The existence of a high prevalence for pathogenic intestinal protozoa such as Giardia lamblia and Entamoeba histolytica can be attributed to the high level of underground waters and their possible contamination with sewage, disregarding the health principles for well-digging, consumption of contaminated surface waters and the simple life cycle and transmission of protozoa.