Study of parasitic infections in pregnant women attending an antenatal clinic in El-Minia

ABSTRACT

To detect parasitic infections routine urine and stool analysis were done for 1220 pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic of El-Minia University Hospital. Only 41.1 percent of the women were parasite free. The others did have either single or mixed infections. The isolates in a descending frequency were Entameba histolytica cysts [42.4 percent], Giardia lamblia [14.8 percent], and Schistosoma haematobium [3.4 percent], Ascaris [3.3 percent], Oxyuris [2.9 percent] and Ankylostoma [1 percent]. Forty subjects were randomly chosen from among those having helminthic infestations and 40 women randomly chosen from those who were parasite free. These were furtherly investigated by doing peripheral haemogram and measuring a[1] antitrypsin, a[2] macroglobulin, haptoglobin and transferrin. These proteins are usually considered as acute phase reactants. Haemoglobin was significantly lower, while eosinophils were significantly higher in the parasitic group compared to the controls. There was no difference between both groups regarding acute phase reactants. The study clearly demonstrates the high incidence of parasitic infestation amongst our pregnant population, to the extent that routine urine and stool analysis should be part of antenatal care in a rural area like ours. Moreover, the management of anemia in pregnant women in our rural area should comprise diagnosis and treatment of parasitic infection