Study of the current parasitic contamination of the edible vegetables in Isfahan in order to identify preventive measures

ABSTRACT

Parasites infect man by way of water, soil, edible things and direct contact. Numerous factors such as the economical, social and cultural conditions as well as lack of personal health care are involved in the dissemination of the parasites. Eating of raw vegetables is common among Iranians and provides a rich source of vitamins and essential nutrients but may lead to human contamination if not washed properly. In this study 30 plant farms were selected in Isfahan in order to assess the rate of contamination of the plants. Afterwards 480 samples of the vegetables were collected and examined for cysts, eggs and larvae in Isfahan Research Center. Floatation method was used for detection of the parasite eggs. Finally the results were recorded and analyzed by means of SPSS [Version 11.5]. We found giardia cyst in 7, dicrosoelium egg in 8, hymenolepis egg in 14, ascaris egg in 16, trichostrongylus egg in 10, teania egg in 5 and trichosephalus egg in 6 cases. In fact, egg of ascaris was the most and teania was the least common parasites and fortunately we did not detect any dangerous agent like Entamoeba histolytica. In the recent years, in spite of improvement of health care, economical, social and agricultural conditions in Isfahan, parasitic infections are still prevalent. Using new methods for garbage collection, repair of ego system, preventing domestic and wild animals [like carnivorous animals] from entering into the plant farms and education of people of different social classes will be effective in reducing parasitic and infectious diseases