Abstract:
Aim: Enteric parasitic diseases pose a serious public health problem worldwide
and yet are neglected. To refocus attention on these diseases, a cross‐sectional
study was conducted to assess the prevalence of enteric infections in patients
referred to referral hospital in Kenya. Materials and Methods: This study was
conducted from April to December 2015 and involved a randomly selected sample
of 185 patients. Fecal specimens were collected and delivered to laboratory for
analysis. Preliminary macroscopic assessment of specimens for segments, larvae,
and adult stages was done. To confirm the presence of ova, trophozoites, cysts, and
oocysts, direct wet smear, formol–ether concentration, and modified Ziehl–Neelsen
techniques were used. Results: Overall prevalence of 46.5% of enteric parasitic
diseases was confirmed. Highest and lowest prevalence was due to protozoans
and helminthes, respectively. Protozoan parasite prevalence was Entamoeba
histolytica (23.9%), Cryptosporidium parvum (13%), Entamoeba coli (6.5%),
Giardia lamblia (6.5%), and Iodamoeba butschlii (6.5%). Helminth prevalence
was Ascaris lumbricoides (1.6%), Hymenolepis nana, Trichuris trichiura, and
Ancylostoma duodenale each (0.5%). There was no significant difference in
prevalence in age groups and gender (P = 0.05). Females were at the highest
risk of C. parvum infection. Polyparasitism was prevalent among protozoans than
helminthes. Conclusion: High prevalence of protozoan infections was observed
among referred patients in comparison to helminthiasis. Based on reported multiple
infections, deworming programs targeting helminthiasis should be restructured
to incorporate diagnosis and treatment of enteric protozoan infections to reduce
prevalence of enteric parasitic infections.
