Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress 2023 EHA Congress 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

A round-up of the ONWARDS phase 3 clinical trials evaluating the novel weekly insulin icodec in people with diabetes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2017

Open Access 01-12-2017 | Research article

Prevalence and distribution of soil-transmitted helminth infections in India

Authors: Nasir Salam, Saud Azam

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2017

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Understanding the prevalence of soil-transmitted helminth infections is necessary to plan control strategies and focus on highly endemic regions for preventive chemotherapy and improved sanitation facilities. India is known to be endemic for soil-transmitted helminth infections.

Methods

To understand the prevalence, spatial distribution and identify high-risk zones, a systematic search of published literature was carried out based on PRISMA guidelines from the year 2000 to 2015.

Results

A careful screening of the identified literature yielded 39 studies that reported the prevalence of soil-transmitted helminth infections from 19 different states of India. Ascaris lumbricoides was the most prevalent parasite. Higher than 50% prevalence was reported from six states. Nearly 90% studies reported the prevalence of more than one parasite species in the same sample population.

Conclusion

This is the first study to comprehensively review the literature associated with soil-transmitted helminth infections from India giving a clear idea of its prevalence, distribution and high endemic areas.
Literature
1.
2.
Lobo DA, Velayudhan R, Chatterjee P, Kohli H, Hotez PJ. The neglected tropical diseases of India and South Asia: review of their prevalence, distribution, and control or elimination. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2011;5:e1222.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
3.
4.
Bethony J, Brooker S, Albonico M, Geiger SM, Loukas A, et al. Soil-transmitted helminth infections: ascariasis, trichuriasis, and hookworm. Lancet. 2006;367:1521–32.CrossRefPubMed
5.
6.
Strunz EC, Addiss DG, Stocks ME, Ogden S, Utzinger J, et al. Water, sanitation, hygiene, and soil-transmitted helminth infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Med. 2014;11:e1001620.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
7.
Levecke B, Montresor A, Albonico M, Ame SM, Behnke JM, et al. Assessment of anthelmintic efficacy of mebendazole in school children in six countries where soil-transmitted helminths are endemic. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2014;8:e3204.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
8.
Boisson S, Sosai P, Ray S, Routray P, Torondel B, et al. Promoting latrine construction and use in rural villages practicing open defecation: process evaluation in connection with a randomised controlled trial in Orissa, India. BMC Res Notes. 2014;7:486.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
9.
Ziegelbauer K, Speich B, Mausezahl D, Bos R, Keiser J, et al. Effect of sanitation on soil-transmitted helminth infection: systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Med. 2012;9:e1001162.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
10.
Jia TW, Melville S, Utzinger J, King CH, Zhou XN. Soil-transmitted helminth reinfection after drug treatment: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2012;6:e1621.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
11.
Wani SA, Ahmad F, Zargar SA, Dar PA, Dar ZA, et al. Intestinal helminths in a population of children from the Kashmir valley, India. J Helminthol. 2008;82:313–7.CrossRefPubMed
12.
Wani SA, Ahmad F, Zargar SA, Amin A, Dar ZA, et al. Intestinal helminthiasis in children of gurez valley of Jammu and Kashmir state, India. J Glob Infect Dis. 2010;2:91–4.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
13.
Wani SA, Ahmad F, Zargar SA, Fomda BA, Ahmad Z, et al. Helminthic infestation in children of Kupwara district: a prospective study. Indian J Med Microbiol. 2007;25:398–400.CrossRefPubMed
14.
Singh C, Zargar SA, Masoodi I, Shoukat A, Ahmad B. Predictors of intestinal parasitosis in school children of Kashmir: a prospective study. Trop Gastroenterol. 2010;31:105–7.PubMed
15.
Ranjan S, Passi SJ, Singh SN. Prevalence and risk factors associated with the presence of Soil-Transmitted Helminths in children studying in Municipal Corporation of Delhi Schools of Delhi, India. J Parasitic Dis. 2013;39:377–84.CrossRef
16.
Sehgal R, Reddy GV, Verweij JJ, Rao AVS. Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among school children and pregnant women in a low socio-economic area, Chandigarh, North India. RIF. 2010;1:100–3.
17.
Bora D, Meena VR, Bhagat H, Dhariwal AC, Lal S. Soil transmitted helminthes prevalence in school children of Pauri Garhwal District, Uttaranchal state. J Commun Dis. 2006;38:112–4.PubMed
18.
Barda B, Ianniello D, Salvo F, Sadutshang T, Rinaldi L, et al. “Freezing” parasites in pre-Himalayan region, Himachal Pradesh: Experience with mini-FLOTAC. Acta Trop. 2014;130:11–6.CrossRefPubMed
19.
20.
Rashid M, Joshi M, Joshi H, Fatemi K. Prevalence of intestinal parasites among school going children in Bareilly District. 2011.
21.
Nitin S, Venkatesh V, Husain N, Masood J, Agarwal GG. Overview of intestinal parasitic prevalence in rural and urban population in Lucknow, north India. J Commun Dis. 2007;39:217–23.PubMed
22.
Awasthi S, Verma T, Kotecha PV, Venkatesh V, Joshi V, et al. Prevalence and risk factors associated with worm infestation in pre-school children (6-23 months) in selected blocks of Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand, India. Indian J Med Sci. 2008;62:484–91.CrossRefPubMed
23.
Tripathi K, Nema S, Bankwar V, Dhanvijay AK. Intestinal Parasitic infections and Demographic status of school children in Bhopal region of Central India. J Pharm Biol Sci. 2014;9:83–7.
24.
Choubisa SL, Jaroli VJ, Choubisa P, Mogra N. Intestinal parasitic infection in Bhil tribe of Rajasthan, India. J Parasitic Dis. 2012;36:143–8.CrossRef
25.
Shobha M, Bithika D, Bhavesh S. The prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections in the urban slums of a city in Western India. J Infect Public Health. 2013;6:142–9.CrossRefPubMed
26.
Lakhani JS, Rana R, Joshi S, Vasisht S. Intestinal parasitic infestations among school children in Piparia Village, Vadodara District. Int J Sci Res. 2013;2:434.
27.
Pandey B, Kumar D, Verma D. Epidemiological study of parasitic infestations in rural women of Terai belt of Bihar, India. Ann Biol Res. 2013;4:30–3.
28.
Greenland K, Dixon R, Khan SA, Gunawardena K, Kihara JH, et al. The epidemiology of soil-transmitted helminths in Bihar State, India. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2015;9:e0003790.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
29.
Narain K, Medhi GK, Rajguru SK, Mahanta J. Cure and reinfection patterns of geohelminthic infections after treatment in communities inhabiting the tropical rainforest of Assam, India. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health. 2004;35:512–7.PubMed
30.
Traub RJ, Robertson ID, Irwin P, Mencke N, Thompson RCA. The prevalence, intensities and risk factors associated with geohelminth infection in tea-growing communities of Assam, India. Trop Med Int Health. 2004;9:688–701.CrossRefPubMed
31.
These ME. Burden of Ascariasis in schoolchildren of Assam. J Commun Dis. 2009;41:289–92.
32.
Sharma SK, Narain K, Devi KR, Mohapatra PK, Phukan RK, et al. Haemoglobinopathies–major associating determinants in prevalence of anaemia among adolescent girl students of Assam, India. 2012.
33.
Singh HL, Singh NB, Singh YI. Helminthic infestation of the primary school-going children in Manipur. J Commun Dis. 2004;36:111–6.PubMed
34.
Pukhrambam R, Ranjan RK, Chaudhuri S, Mukhia S. Prevalence and risk factors of soil -transmitted helminth infections among the under-five children in an urban slum of Manipur New Indian. J Pediatr. 2013;2:62–8.
35.
Dambhare D, Bharambe M, Garg B. Intestinal parasites prevalence and related factors among school children in the rural area of central India. J Commun Dis. 2010;42:281–6.PubMed
36.
Aher A, Kulkarni S. Prevalence of intestinal parasites in school going children in a rural community. Int J Biomed Res. 2012;2:605–7.CrossRef
37.
Avhad S, Hiware C. Soil transmitted helminthiasis among school age children in Aurangabad District, Maharashtra State, India. Prevalence. 2012;10:100.
38.
Mukherjee AK, Chowdhury P, Das K, Raj D, Karmakar S, et al. Helminth burden among school going children of southern Bengal, India: A survey report. Glob J Biol Agri Heal Sci. 2013;2(3):189–91.
39.
Sur D, Saha DR, Manna B, Rajendran K, Bhattacharya SK. Periodic deworming with albendazole and its impact on growth status and diarrhoeal incidence among children in an urban slum of India. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2005;99:261–7.CrossRefPubMed
40.
Naish S, McCarthy J, Williams GM. Prevalence, intensity and risk factors for soil-transmitted helminth infection in a South Indian fishing village. Acta Trop. 2004;91:177–87.CrossRefPubMed
41.
Padmaja N, Swaroop PS, Nageswararao P. Prevalence of Intestinal Parasitic Infections among School Children in and around Amalapuram. J Pub Health Med Res. 2014;2(2):36-8.
42.
Panda S, Rao UD, Sankaram KR. Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among school children in rural area of Vizianagaram. IOSR J Pharm Biol Sci. 2012;3:42–5.
43.
Ragunathan L, Kalivaradhan SK, Ramadass S, Nagaraj M, Ramesh K. Helminthic infections in school children in Puducherry, South India. J Microbiol Immunol Infect. 2010;43:228–32.CrossRefPubMed
44.
Golia S, Sangeetha K, Vasudha C. Prevalence of parasitic infections among primary school children in bangalore. Int J Basic Appl Med Sci. 2012;4:12–8.
45.
Kattula D, Sarkar R, Ajjampur SSR, Minz S, Levecke B, et al. Prevalence & risk factors for soil transmitted helminth infection among school children in south India. Indian J Med Res. 2014;139:76–82.PubMedPubMedCentral
46.
Krishnan A, Sekar U, Sathanantham DK. Prevalence and Pattern of Helminthic Infection among Children in a Primary School of Rural Tamil Nadu. Acad Med J India. 2013;1:40–2.
47.
Fernandez MC, Verghese S, Bhuvaneswari R, Elizabeth SJ, Mathew T, et al. A comparative study of the intestinal parasites prevalent among children living in rural and urban settings in and around Chennai. J Commun Dis. 2002;34:35–9.PubMed
48.
Dhanabal J, Selvadoss PP, Muthuswamy K. Comparative study of the prevalence of intestinal parasites in low socioeconomic areas from South chennai, India. J Parasitol Res. 2014;2014:630968.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
49.
Sunish I, Rajendran R, Munirathinam A, Kalimuthu M, Kumar VA, et al. Impact on prevalence of intestinal helminth infection in school children administered with seven annual rounds of diethyl carbamazine (DEC) with albendazole. Indian J Med Res. 2015;141:330.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
50.
Mani GG, Rao ST, Madhavi R. Estimation of hookworm intensity by anthelmintic expulsion in primary schoolchildren in south-india. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1993;87:634–5.CrossRefPubMed
51.
Hookworm disease in India. Br Med J. 1923;76.
52.
Clark A, Turner T, Dorothy KP, Goutham J, Kalavati C, et al. Health hazards due to pollution of waters along the coast of Visakhapatnam, east coast of India. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2003;56:390–7.CrossRefPubMed
53.
54.
Nunes MR, Palacios G, Faria NR, Sousa Jr EC, Pantoja JA, et al. Air travel is associated with intracontinental spread of dengue virus serotypes 1-3 in Brazil. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2014;8:e2769.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
55.
Nikolay B, Brooker SJ, Pullan RL. Sensitivity of diagnostic tests for human soil-transmitted helminth infections: a meta-analysis in the absence of a true gold standard. Int J Parasitol. 2014;44:765–74.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
Metadata
Title
Prevalence and distribution of soil-transmitted helminth infections in India
Authors
Nasir Salam
Saud Azam
Publication date
01-12-2017
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2017
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-4113-2

Other articles of this Issue 1/2017

BMC Public Health 1/2017 Go to the issue

Research article

A mixed methods feasibility study of nicotine-assisted smoking reduction programmes delivered by community pharmacists – The RedPharm study

Research article

Understanding the role of intersectoral convergence in the delivery of essential maternal and child nutrition interventions in Odisha, India: a qualitative study

Research article

Contextual variations in costs for a community health strategy implemented in rural, peri-urban and nomadic sites in Kenya

Research article

Is unemployment in young adulthood related to self-rated health later in life? Results from the Northern Swedish cohort

Research article

What do we know about the effects of exposure to ‘Low alcohol’ and equivalent product labelling on the amounts of alcohol, food and tobacco people select and consume? A systematic review

Research article

Young women’s perceptions of transactional sex and sexual agency: a qualitative study in the context of rural South Africa