A Study of Prevalence of Intestinal Protozoan Infections and Associated Risk Factors among the School Children of Biratnagar Submetropolitan, Eastern Region of Nepal

Introduction: Intestinal Protozoan infections remain a public health problem in low-income and middle-income settings of tropical and subtropical zones however epidemiological evidence is scarce in urban areas. Objectives: To measure the prevalence of intestinal protozoan infections and to identify risk factors associated with protozoan infections among the school children of Biratnagar. Materials and Methods: The cross‐sectional study was conducted in Grade VI, VII and VIII in Government and private schools of Biratnagar. Stratified random sampling method was applied to choose the schools and the study subjects. The Chi‐square test was used to measure the association of risk factors and protozoan infections. Results: Overall prevalence of intestinal protozoan infections among the school children was 20.0 percent. Giardia lamblia was seen high (12.5%) in comparison to Entamoeba histolytica (7.5%). The prevalence of protozoan infection was seen slightly higher in male (20.7%) than female (19.1%) but the difference was not significant. The protozoan infection was higher among children whose mother was illiterate (26.9%) than below School Leaving Certificate (SLC) (18.5%) and SLC pass and above (11.1%) (P>0.05). The use of soap and water before meal had lower prevalence of protozoan Infections (14.3%) than only use of water (20.2%) (P>0.05). The protozoan infections was also seen lower who wear sandals or shoes (15.1%) than those did not wear (24.3%) (P>0.05). The infection rate was significantly lower among having clean nail (7.5%) than not having clean (28.3%) (P<0.001). The protozoan infection was seen higher among children having the habit of nail biting and thumb sucking but the difference was not significant. Conclusion: The prevalence of intestinal protozoan infection was found to be high in school children of Biratnagar and was seen significantly more among populations who have unhygienic skin, nail and clothes cleanliness.