Parasitological findings in stool Samples of children under five years in An inland rural community in Ghana
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Date
1990-03
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Ghana Medical Journal
Abstract
Diarrhoea is one of the causes of childhood morbidity
and mortality through dehydration in the
developing countries. For this reason a 12-
month study was undertaken to investigate the
role of parasitic agents in diarrhoea among children
under five year! in an inland rural community.
Four hundred and sixty five (465) stool
samples made up of 203 diarrhoea and 262 non-diarrhoea
cases were examined, using the direct
smear and the formol-ether-concentration techniques
for the presence 0f parasitic agents. Out
of the 203 diarrhoea samples 70 (34.5%) were
found to contain parasitic agents while 133
(65.5%) were free from such organisms. Eighty
nine samples (34.0%) of the 262 non-diarrhoea
subjects were also found to be positive and 173
(66.0%) were negative. The parasitic agents detected
were Ascaris lumbricoides followed by
Chilomastix mesnili, Giardia lamblia,
hookworm and Strongyloides stercoralis. Entamoeba
histolytica and Trichuris trichiura were
also detected. Concurrent infection was common.
The youngest among the positive cases was
a five month old child with a mix infection of Ascaris
lumbricoides and hookworm, agents transmitted
through the soil. According to these results
there was no significant difference between
the number of positive cases among both the
diarrhoeal and non-diarrhoeal subjects but a prevalence
rate of 44.2% and 20.2% of G. lamblia
among the diarrhoeal and controls respectively is
significant.
Description
Journal Article
Keywords
Chilomastix mesnili, lumbricoides, hookworm, children Stool