Frequency of intestinal parasites in children presenting with diarrhea and/or abdominal pain to Sam hospital, Sana'a, Republic of Yemen

ABSTRACT

To detect the frequency of intestinal parasites in children presenting with diarrhea and/or abdominal pain to Sam Hospital, Sana'a, Republic of Yemen. A record-based study was performed during a one year period from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2003. The total number of patients seen for differnt causes through that period was 24100. The charts of those children with diarrhea and/or abdominal pain or discomfort who were referred to the laboratory unit for stool examination were analyzed. A normal saline sedimentation technique was adopted for stool examination. Normal ethyl acetate sedimentation or direct smear methods were also used when necessary. Data about age and sex were collected. The ages of the patients ranged from 2 months to 15 years. Stool examination was carried out in 2824 patients; 1703 [60.3%] of them were males and 1121 [39.7%] were females. Six hundred sixty [23.4%] specimens were parasite positive. Of these, 286 [10.1%] were Entamoeba histolytica, 266 [9.4%] Giardia lamblia, 52 [[1.8%] Hymenolepis nana, 27 [1%] Schistsoma mansoni, 20 [0.7%] Ascaris, 5 [0.2%] Enterobius, and 4 [0.1%] Trichuris trichiura. The majority of the patients were males. The most frequently found found intestinal parasites in children were Entamoeba histolytica followed by Giardia, H. nana, Schistosoma mansoni, and Ascaris