TITLE:
Prevalence of Human Intestinal Helminth Parasites among Undergraduate Students at the off Campus (North Gate Area), Federal University of Technology, Akure (Futa), Nigeria
AUTHORS:
Ebenezer Oluyemi Dada, Christiana Eleojo Aruwa
KEYWORDS:
Intestinal Helminths, Parasites, Stool, Prevalence, Infections, Health
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.2 No.3,
March
26,
2015
ABSTRACT: Studies have shown that
soil-transmitted helminth infections are widely distributed throughout the tropics
and subtropics. Poor sanitation is a major factor in the spread of intestinal helminth
parasites. Hence, a study was carried out from July to September 2014, to determine
the prevalence of intestinal helminth parasites among undergraduate students at
North Gate, FUTA. A total of two hundred (200) stool samples were collected randomly
from both males and females. Faecal samples were analyzed using the formol-ether
sedimentation and concentration method. Parasites encountered by prevalence were Taenia spp. (13.5%), Ascaris lumbricoides (6.5%), Enterobius vermicularis (2%), Strongyloides stercoralis (6%), Trichuris trichiura (5%), Schistosoma mansoni (3.5%) and Hookworm species (8%). Formol-ether concentration technique
was used to analyze the stool samples. The overall infection rate was 89 (44.5%).
The study showed that infections were more prevalent
among males. The highest prevalence of infections was recorded among the
age group of 19 - 22 years (21%) in both sexes, and least infection rate in the
age group of 27 - 30 years (1.0%). The highest prevalence of infection was observed
with students who made use of pit latrine (22%), compared with students who made
use of bush system (7.5%). Prevalence for users of water closet was 11%. On the
basis of the type of toilet system, the bucket system showed the least prevalence
of 4%. Prevalence of helminth parasite infection was the highest among students
using pipe borne water (22%) system as source of water, compared with users of stream/pond/
river water source, which had the least prevalence (3.5%). The study showed that
there was a need to encourage the practice of good personal hygiene and sanitation.
The health implication of low level of hygiene and faecal pollution of the environment
related to prevalence is discussed.