Prevalence of oxyuriasis in kindergartens of Isfahan, Iran

Introduction: Oxyuriasis is an important parasitological diseases especially in children. The most striking symptom of the infection is pruritus. Some other symptoms are nocturia, sleepiness, insomnia, nightmares, intestinal pain and convulsion. Since the female worms migrate to annus to deposit their eggs, stool exam is usually negative for worms egg, but scotch tape test is the best method to demonstrate the infection. This study tried to detect oxyuriasis rate in Isfahan kindergartens. Methods: In this descriptive study, using stratified sampling method, 261 children were selected from 13 different regions of the city. Graham method was taught to the children’s parents and they did Graham test and filled in a pre-designed questionnaire. After microscopic investigation of the samples, the results were analyzed using SPSS statistical software. Results: 252 samples were collected from 13 different kindergartens of the city. Only 6 (2.38%) cases were infected by oxyure (4 boys and 2 girls). The cases were observed in 3 different kindergartens. Conclusion: The oxyuriasis infection rate was 2.38% which is significantly lower than the rates from previous studies. This result shows that oxyure infection in Isfahan kindergartens has reduced in recent years