NDLI: Intestinal parasite infections and associated risk factors among schoolchildren in Dolakha and Ramechhap districts, Nepal: a cross-sectional study

Content Provider	Springer Nature : BioMed Central
Author	Shrestha, Akina Schindler, Christian Odermatt, Peter Gerold, Jana Erismann, Séverine Sharma, Subodh Koju, Rajendra Utzinger, Jürg Cissé, Guéladio
Abstract	Background Infections with soil-transmitted helminths and pathogenic intestinal protozoa pose a considerable public health burden, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, including Nepal. We assessed the extent of intestinal parasite infections among schoolchildren in two districts of Nepal and determined underlying risk factors. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted between March and May 2015 in the districts of Dolakha and Ramechhap, Nepal. A total of 708 children, aged 8–16 years from 16 purposively selected schools, were enrolled. Each child provided a single stool sample that was subjected to a suite of copro-microscopic diagnoses for intestinal protozoa and helminths. Drinking water samples from different sources at schools (n = 29), community places (n = 43) and households (n = 562) were analysed for contamination with thermotolerant coliforms (TTC). A questionnaire was administered to determine individual- and household-level risk factors of intestinal parasite infections. Self-reported symptoms were assessed and a clinical examination was undertaken by a physician. Haemoglobin was measured and used as a proxy for anaemia. Mixed logistic regression models were applied to investigate associations. Results The overall prevalence of intestinal parasite infections was 39.7%. Trichuris trichiura (30.9%), Giardia intestinalis (30.5%) and hookworm (30.2%) were the predominant intestinal parasite infections. Children from households lacking soap for handwashing were at higher odds of intestinal parasite infections than children who had soap [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.81; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.13–2.89; P = 0.01]. Children from households without freely roaming domestic animals showed lower odds of G. intestinalis compared to children from households with freely roaming animals (aOR 0.52; 95% CI: 0.33–0.83; P = 0.01). One out of three (31.0%) children suffered from fever and 22.4% had watery diarrhoea within a two-week recall period. Anaemia was diagnosed in 23.6% of the children. Water contamination with TTC showed no clear association with intestinal parasite infection. Conclusions Intestinal parasites are common among schoolchildren in the two surveyed districts of Nepal. An important risk factor was lack of soap for handwashing. Our findings call for efforts to control intestinal parasite infection and emphasis should be placed on improvements in water, sanitation and hygiene interventions. Trial registration ISRCTN17968589 (date assigned: 17 July 2015).
Related Links	https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s13071-018-3105-0.pdf
Ending Page	15
Page Count	15
Starting Page	1
File Format	HTM / HTML
ISSN	17563305
DOI	10.1186/s13071-018-3105-0
Journal	Parasites & Vectors
Issue Number	1
Volume Number	11
Language	English
Publisher	BioMed Central
Publisher Date	2018-09-29
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	Parasitology Entomology Tropical Medicine Infectious Diseases Veterinary Medicine Veterinary Science Virology Helminths Hygiene Intestinal protozoa Nepal Sanitation Water Veterinary Medicine/Veterinary Science
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Veterinary Infectious Diseases Parasitology
Journal Impact Factor	3/2023
5-Year Journal Impact Factor	3.3/2023

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections and associated risk factors among schoolchildren in the Plateau Central and Centre-Ouest regions of Burkina Faso

Water Quality, Sanitation, and Hygiene Conditions in Schools and Households in Dolakha and Ramechhap Districts, Nepal: Results from A Cross-Sectional Survey

School hygiene and deworming are key protective factors for reduced transmission of soil-transmitted helminths among schoolchildren in Honduras

Intestinal parasites, growth and physical fitness of schoolchildren in poor neighbourhoods of Port Elizabeth, South Africa: a cross-sectional survey

Intestinal parasite infections and associated factors among inmates of Arba Minch prison, southern Ethiopia: cross sectional study

The role of water, sanitation and hygiene interventions in reducing soil-transmitted helminths: interpreting the evidence and identifying next steps

Prevalence and risk factors of helminths and intestinal protozoa infections among children from primary schools in western Tajikistan

Co-infections with Plasmodium falciparum, Schistosoma mansoni and intestinal helminths among schoolchildren in endemic areas of northwestern Tanzania

The nutritional impacts of soil-transmitted helminths infections among Orang Asli schoolchildren in rural Malaysia

Intestinal parasite infections and associated risk factors among schoolchildren in Dolakha and Ramechhap districts, Nepal: a cross-sectional study

Similar Documents

Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections and associated risk factors among schoolchildren in the Plateau Central and Centre-Ouest regions of Burkina Faso

Water Quality, Sanitation, and Hygiene Conditions in Schools and Households in Dolakha and Ramechhap Districts, Nepal: Results from A Cross-Sectional Survey

School hygiene and deworming are key protective factors for reduced transmission of soil-transmitted helminths among schoolchildren in Honduras

Intestinal parasites, growth and physical fitness of schoolchildren in poor neighbourhoods of Port Elizabeth, South Africa: a cross-sectional survey

Intestinal parasite infections and associated factors among inmates of Arba Minch prison, southern Ethiopia: cross sectional study

The role of water, sanitation and hygiene interventions in reducing soil-transmitted helminths: interpreting the evidence and identifying next steps

Prevalence and risk factors of helminths and intestinal protozoa infections among children from primary schools in western Tajikistan

Co-infections with Plasmodium falciparum, Schistosoma mansoni and intestinal helminths among schoolchildren in endemic areas of northwestern Tanzania

The nutritional impacts of soil-transmitted helminths infections among Orang Asli schoolchildren in rural Malaysia

Intestinal parasite infections and associated risk factors among schoolchildren in Dolakha and Ramechhap districts, Nepal: a cross-sectional study