The Prevalence of Intestinal Parasites in Children Attending Day–Care Centers in Yazd City, Iran

Introduction: Intestinal parasitic infections are very common in developing countries and affect mostly children. Day care centers are places where children are more susceptible to acquire intestinal parasites. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasites among children who attend to day care centers in Yazd city. Eighty hundred children under six years old were selected by cluster sampling. Fresh faecal samples were collected from each child and examined by direct wet mount and formalin-ether techniques. Demography data and anthropometric indicators of children were also recorded. The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS software. Results: In total 10 % of children harbored at least one type of intestinal parasite. The rates of infection were as follows: Blastocystis hominis 2.8%, Giardia lamblia 2.8%, Entamoeba coli 1.1%, Chilomastix mesnili 1.7%, Dientamoeba fragilis 1.1.%. Infection rate in male was 12.9% and in female it was 6.9%. The relationship between sex, age, anthropometric indicators, and parasitic infection was not statistically significant. A statistically significant difference was observed between infection, parents’ education and mothers' job (P<0.005). Conclusion: The results of this study, showed a considerable decrease in the rate of intestinal parasitic infections in comparison with other studies. This may be owing to the improvements in personal environment, and health which have occurred through public education campaigns, health information raising, sanitation facilities improvement, proper waste and wastewater disposal, control of drinking-water, and food safety.