Author(s)

Shamshul Ansari, Jeevan Bahadur Sherchand, Keshab Parajuli, Bharat Mani Paudyal, Ram Prasad Adhikari, Shovita Shrestha, Shyam Kumar Mishra, Rajan Kumar Dahal, Sarmila Tandukar, Rama Khadka, Ranju Shreshta, Soma Kanta Baral, Bharat Mani Pokhrel

Department of Microbiology, Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), Kathmandum, Nepal.
Public Health Research Laboratory, Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), Kathmandu, Nepal.

Diarrheal diseases are major problem of developing countries. Though precise data on childhood mortality associated with diarrheal diseases in Nepal is not available, it has been estimated that approximately 25% of child death are associated with diarrheal disease, particularly acute diarrhea. The purpose of this study was to assess the incidence of parasitic pathogens causing acute diarrhea in children under 5 years of age. A total of 525 children with acute diarrhea in a children’s hospital of Kathmandu, Nepal were enrolled between April 2011 and September 2011. The higher prevalence of diarrhea was in the age group of less than 2 years. Out of total 525 enrolled cases, protozoal parasites were found in 10.7% (56/525) of cases and helminthic parasites were found in 1.3% (7/525) of cases. Highest prevalence of 60.3% (38/63) of parasitic infection was found in the age group of 6 - 24 months followed by 7.9% (5/63) in the age group of less than 6 months. Of the total enrolled cases E. histolytica were 6.7% (35/525) followed by Giardial lamblia 3.4% (18/525) and the least frequency was due to A. lumbricoides constituting 0.6% (3/525). The aim of this study was to know the parasitic agents causing acute diarrhea in children.

Parasitic Diarrhea; Protozoa; Helminthes; TUTH; Nepal

S. Ansari, J. Sherchand, K. Parajuli, B. Paudyal, R. Adhikari, S. Shrestha, S. Mishra, R. Dahal, S. Tandukar, R. Khadka, R. Shreshta, S. Baral and B. Pokhrel, "Pattern of Acute Parasitic Diarrhea in Children Under Five Years of Age in Kathmandu, Nepal," Open Journal of Medical Microbiology, Vol. 2 No. 3, 2012, pp. 95-100. doi: 10.4236/ojmm.2012.23014.