Prevalence, common helminthes, and factors associated with helminthes among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at a tertiary hospital in Uganda.

Background: Helminthes in pregnant women is among the neglected tropical diseases. The Uganda ministry of health adopted the WHO recommendation of routine biannual deworming for girls and women of reproductive age and twice in pregnancy during the second and third trimesters. Despite the measures put in place, the prevalence of Helminthes among pregnant women in Uganda is still high which has implications for both the mother and to the developing fetus.

Methods: This was a hospital-based cross-sectional study carried out from January to April, 2024. Using Consecutive sampling method, 334 pregnant women were enrolled. Data was collected using pre-tested questionnaires, and a single stool specimen was collected from each woman and freshly voided stool specimens was directly examined microscopically. The data was analyzed using STATA Version 14.2. A bivariate and multivariate analysis were used to show the association between the dependent and independent variables, considering P < 0.05 as the level of significance and the 95% confidence interval.

Results: The overall prevalence of Helminthes was 27.54%. Among all pregnant women who tested positive, common helminth was Hook worm (83.7%), followed by Ascaris lumbricoides (31.5%), and Trichuris triciuria (21.7%). Age, rural residence, having no toilet facility, no hand washing after toilet use, walking bare footed, no hand washing before meals were significantly associated with Helminthes with (aOR = 0.2; 95% CI = [0.085-0.588]; P = 0.002), (aOR = 9.0; 95% CI = [1.684-48.325]; P =0.010), (aOR = 3.6; 95% CI = [1.788-7.101]; P = 0.001), (aOR = 4.7; 95% CI = [1.359-16.419]; P = 0.015), (aOR = 1.9; 95% CI = [1.014-3.674]; P = 0.045), (aOR = 13.1; 95% CI = [5.146-33..578]; P = 0.001), respectively.

Conclusion: In this study, the overall prevalence of Helminthes was low in pregnancy compared to the global prevalence. The common helminthes among pregnant women was Hook worm infestation. The infection was independently associated with respect to Age, rural residence, having no toilet facility, no hand washing after toilet use, walking bare footed, no hand washing before meals.