Afsana Begum*
Parasitology Research Lab, Department of Zoology, Patna University, Patna, Bihar, India
Received : 2ndJuly, 2020 ; Revised :19th August, 2020
Abstract– Intestinal parasitic infections are endemic to worldwide and remain a major public health problem among most communities in tropical and subtropical countries including India. This study was carried out in the population of some ghettos (slums) of Patna District of Bihar, India during 2010-2011 with the purpose of achieving a better understanding of the incidence and factors associated with intestinal protozoan parasites among the population of selected ghettos. Stool samples from 687 subjects were collected randomly from the population and examined by simple saline preparation technique. In addition, stained preparation by Lugol’s iodine solution was also used for the identification of nuclear character of the cysts. (19.6%) of the total examined cases (135/687) were found to be infected with various protozoan parasites. The species specific degree of incidence for the protozoan parasites has been found to be- Entamoeba histolytica (8.0 %), Giardia lamblia (5.0%) and Entamoeba coli (4.3%). About 2.1% of the infected samples contained multiple infections. Samples were collected from two different communities, schedule caste (SC) and Muslims. 70 samples out of 310 were positive for parasitic infections in SC groups which constitute 22.5% of infection rate, in Muslims 65 (17.2%) were harbored with parasitic infections out of 377 samples studied. The present study revealed that the prevalence of intestinal protozoan parasitic infections among the population of the areas of Patna is still so high that required special control measures. Furthermore the study underscored the need for surveillance and intervention program to control and manage these infections.
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