The fingernail infection with intestinal parasites in seven-year-old children referred to the sensory clinic in Bandar Abbas city in 2016

Background: Parasitic diseases are one of the most common infections among school-aged children that have severe side effects such as anemia, delayed growth, and mental retardation. One of the ways to prevent the disease is personal hygiene, This study aimed to evaluate the fingernails parasitic infection in children before entering school. Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study, 195 children between ages 6-7 years of 4 snsory clinics in the Bandar Abbas city were entered into the survey. Designed checklist was completed by parents. Sampling was carried out as a random model and samples were collected with sterile nail clipper, then, the specimens were kept in Potassium hydroxide 10% for 24 hours and finally centrifuged at 2500 rpm for 5 minutes drop of the sediment was placed on a clean slide and after adding of some lugol were seen using light microscope with 10x and 40x objective lenses, respectively. Data were analyzed with spss.17 statistical software using Fisher's exact test and P-value of ≤0.05 was considered as significant. Results: Of the 195 studied children, 5 cases of parasite eggs were observed (eggs freguency2.56%). The only parasite eggs found in the nail were Enterobiusvermicularis. Of these five children, four were male, and one was female. Conclusion: The prevalence of intestinal parasites under the nail was low, but according to other studies carried out on stool sample and report of further contamination, there is the possibility that the parasite is transmitted through contaminated food and water, therefore, evaluation of drinking water and food for parasitic infections is necessary.