بررسی فراوانی تک یاخته های روده ای و عوامل دموگرافیک مرتبط با آن در مادران مراجعه کننده به مراکز بهداشتی و درمانی شهرستان همدان طی سالهای 1393-1392

Introduction & Objective: Nowadays, parasitic infections are a major health problem throughout the world, particularly in developing countries. Considering the crucial role of women in family health care, this study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated demographic factors of intestinal parasitic infections in mothers visiting urban and rural health care centers of Hamadan city. Materials & Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted on 253 (128 rural and 125 ur-ban) mothers visiting urban and rural health care centers of Hamadan. After receiving in-formed consent and filling the questionnaire, stool samples were examined by formalin-ether concentration technique, trichrome and modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining methods. The results were analyzed using Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests. Results: Of the 253 mothers studied, 52 (20.55%) were infected with intestinal protozoa. The infection rate in urban and rural inhabitants was 14.4% and 26.56%, respectively (P=0.02). Blastocystis hominis was the most frequently detected parasite with prevalence of 14.62%, followed by Entamoeba coli with 5.92%. Moreover, Giardia lamblia was found only in 0.79% of mothers. There were significant relationships between parasitic infections and contact to animals, level of education, location, method of washing vegetables and occupation. Conclusion: The results of the present study showed a high prevalence of parasitic infections in mothers living in rural areas compared to urban inhabitants. Therefore, it is necessary to pro-mote the public health awareness of rural population to reduce the frequency of parasitic infections.