Parasitic infestation and nutritional status among primary schoolchildren in Ismailia city, Egypt

ABSTRACT

Intestinal parasitic infection is a major health problem in many developing countries. By far the most common effect on health is a subtle and insidious constraint on normal physical development, resulting in children failing to achieve their genetic potential for growth and having the clinical consequences of iron deficiency anaemia and other nutritional deficiencies. To investigate the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infestation among school-aged children residing in Ismailia city; and to assess the impact of its infestation on nutrition status of those children. A cross sectional design was used. A sample size of >/= 99 was calculated from the target population [24000 children distributed among 43 1ry schools] with an estimated proportion of parasitic infestation to be 47% [from a previous study], 95% confidence coefficient and 10% confidence interval. The dropout rate was considered to be 10%, so the sample size was 110 children. The parasitic infestation was highly prevalent in the study group. Its prevalence was 43%. Regarding the nutrition status, stunting was the most frequent sign [diagnosed in 20% of the study group] followed by underweight [11%] and wasting [7%]. Underweight and stunting were detected more in children who were infested with parasites. Approximately more than one-third of school-children were infested by intestinal parasites. The parasitic infestation seemed to be associated with growth rate pattern among those children. School-based parasite control program and health promotion are needed to eliminate this major public health problem among school children