Prevalence of Intestinal Parasitic Infections among Patients with Diarrhea at Bereka Medical Center, Southeast Ethiopia: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Background: Intestinal parasitic infections are among the most common infections worldwide. High prevalence is found in people with low socio-economic status, poor living condition, overcrowded areas, poor environmental sanitation, improper garbage disposal, unsafe water supply and unhygienic personal habits. Thus, the objective of this retrospective study was to determine the prevalence intestinal parasitosis among patients with diarrhoea who visited Bereka Medical Center, south east Ethiopia. Methodology: Institution based retrospective study design was employed. Stool examination records of all patients with diarrhea who visited Bereka Medical Center from November 2012 to November 2013 were included. A total of 5347 stool examination results of those diarrheic patients were analyzed for this study. Samples were examined using direct saline wet mount technique. Statistical analysis was done by SPSS version 16 and results were shown in percent and prevalence rates. Results: The overall prevalence of intestinal parasite for at least one parasite in this retrospective study was 888/5347(16.6%). Furthermore, 5.7% of those positive patients were infected by two species of parasites and 2.3% of patients had triple infections. The most prevalent parasites were E. histolytica/dispar 478/888(53.8%) followed by G. lamblia 210/888(23.7%) and Taenia species 70/888(7.9%) respectively. Conclusion: Intestinal parasitosis is highly prevalent in varying magnitude among diarrheic patients who visited Bereka Medical Center, southeast Ethiopia. E. histolytica/dispar was the most prevalent parasite infecting patients followed by, G. lamblia, Taenia species and H. nana. Because of absence of molecular diagnosis for E. histolytica, over diagnosis might be possible for the high prevalence of amoebiasis.