Intestinal Parasitic Infestations and Its Prevalence among School Going Children and Pregnant Women in Paschim Medinipur District, West Bengal, India

Abstract

The greatest single worldwide endemic cause of illness and disease is intestinal parasitic infestation. In India, the commonest intestinal parasitic infestation (IPI) factors among pregnant mothers and children are Ascaris, Hookworm, Trichuris trichiura and Entamoeba histolytica leads to increased prevalence of anaemia along with high infant mortality and morbidity. Five hundred sixty (560) school going children and 80 pregnant women, attending the primary healthcare centres resided in a low socio-economic area of Paschim Medinipur district, West Bengal, India were incorporated in the study and their stool samples were collected for analysis to search out the prevalence of intestinal protozoal and helminthic infection, which was the aim of the study. Direct microscopic observations were performed to study the presence of intestinal parasites including their larvae, ova, trophozoites or cysts in stool samples, if any. Analysis of data established that prevalence of helminthic infections was much higher than the prevalence of protozoal infections for both of the studied groups may be due to water-borne coupled with lassitude to maintain personal hygienic status and poor sanitary conditions in their abode area.