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BMC Infectious Diseases

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Open Access 01-12-2016 | Research article

Prevalence and risk factors of intestinal protozoan infections: a population-based study in rural areas of Boyer-Ahmad district, Southwestern Iran

Authors: Bahador Sarkari, Ghasem Hosseini, Mohammad Hossein Motazedian, Mohammad Fararouei, Abdolali Moshfe

Published in: BMC Infectious Diseases | Issue 1/2016

Abstract

Background

Parasitic infections are still a significant health problem in rural areas in developing countries including Iran. There is no recent population-based data about the prevalence of human intestinal parasites in most rural areas of Iran. The current study aimed to determine the prevalence of intestinal protozoan infection in inhabitants of rural areas of Boyer-Ahmad district, Southwestern Iran.

Methods

A total of 1025 stool samples were collected from the inhabitant of 50 randomly selected villages in Boyer-Ahmad Township. The stool samples were evaluated by parasitological methods including, direct wet-mounting, formalin ethyl acetate concentration, zinc sulfate floatation, and Trichrome permanent stain for detection of protozoan infections. Diarrheic samples were further evaluated with a modified Ziehl–Neelsen staining method for detection of coccidian parasites.

Results

The prevalence of both pathogenic and nonpathogenic intestinal parasites in the population was 37.5% (385 out of 1025 cases), some individual with multiple infections. Giardia lamblia was detected in 179 (17.46%), Blastocystis hominis in 182 (17.76%), Entamoeba histolytica/dispar in 9 (0.87%), Endolimax nana in 216 (21.07%), Entamoeba coli in 151 (14.73%), Ioedamoeba butschlii in 45 (4.39%), Chillomastix mesnili in 22 (2.14%), Trichomonas hominis in 2 (0.19%) and Dientamoeba fragillis in 2 (0.19%) of cases. Multivariate logistic regression revealed significant associations between protozoan infection (pathogenic protozoa) and contact with animals (OR yes/no = 2.22, p < 0.001) and educational status (OR higher/illiterate = 0.40, P = 0.01).

Conclusion

Findings of this study demonstrated that protozoan infection rate in rural areas of southwestern Iran is still high and remained as a challenging health problem in these areas.

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Title: Prevalence and risk factors of intestinal protozoan infections: a population-based study in rural areas of Boyer-Ahmad district, Southwestern Iran
Authors: Bahador Sarkari
Ghasem Hosseini
Mohammad Hossein Motazedian
Mohammad Fararouei
Abdolali Moshfe
Publication date: 01-12-2016
Publisher: BioMed Central
Published in: BMC Infectious Diseases / Issue 1/2016
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2334
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-016-2047-4

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