Pattern of intestinal helminthiasis among under five in a rural community of Plateau State, Nigeria

Helminthic infestation is a serious public health problem which imposes a great burden on poor populations in the developing world. This is among the most common infections worldwide affecting the poorest and most deprived communities. Under fives are vulnerable to heavy helminthic infestation which in turn can give health effects such as anemia, growth stunting, protein-energy under nutrition and poor cognitive development. The study was conducted to the determine the pattern and prevalence of intestinal helminthiasis among under fives in Chanso community of Plateau state. A cross sectional study conducted in 2014 among 237 under fives, EPI info statistical software version 3.5.4 was used for data analysis and 95% confidence interval was used in this study with a p ≤ 0.05 considered statistically significant. The prevalence of intestinal helminthiaisis was 58.2% with 91.3% of the studied subjects having single helminthic infestation. The mean age of the under fives was 32.2 ± 16.4 months. This study has demonstrated a high level of helminthic infestation among under fives and the need to provide appropriate intervention to address it.