Prevalence of Ascariasis and the Factors Potentially Influencing Its Transmission among Children in Iligan City, Philippines

Abstract

The study was conducted in four locations of Iligan City in - coastal, poblacion (city proper), hillside and mountain villages. Anthropometric measurements such as body weight and height were done. Presence of helminth eggs was done following standard parasi tological examination. Survey questionaires were completed to determine factors contributing to the occurrence of infection. A total of 1,170   individual volunteers were gathered.  Mountain villages revealed 69% infection rate followed by coastal villages with 28.3%, hillside villages with 26.03% and poblacion village with 16.7%. Multivariate analysis reveals that the pattern of Ascaris lumbricoides infection strongly influenced by several contributory factors. People sleeping in one room, absence toilet, source of water, presence of worms, playing in the soil, deworming drugs, gender, and type of toilet, presence of flies, number of people in household, herbal medicine, house pets, health condition, distance of house from the sea and eating of raw fish significantly contributed to the prevalence of A. lumbricoides infection. This study shows that the four sampling sites in Iligan city has provided favorable conditions for intestinal ascariasis. Transmission of intestinal A. lubricoides is linked to generally poor living conditions, poor public health services, poor sanitation and individual health behavior. Keywords - ascariasis, flies, roundworms, prevalence, parasite, transmission