Scholars International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (SIJOG)
Volume-3 | Issue-03 | 106-109
Original Research Article
Prevalence of Intestinal Parasite in Children and Their Mothers of a Slum in Dhaka City
Dr. Dorothy Shahnaz Mukul Fatema, Prof. Dr. Be-Nazir Ahmed, Dr. Abdul Khaleque
Published : March 30, 2020
Abstract
Background: The Majority (65.3 the respondents had been living in the ‘Katcha’ houses and none of them used to boil water, obtained from Water and Sewerage Authority WASA supply for drinking. Most (88.1) of the children defecated in the open field and almost all of the mothers (99.0) used to defecate in the hanging latrine. More than one-fourth (28.7) of the children had no habit of handwashing after defecation and the majority (69.3) of the mother's used only water for washing hands after defecation. About one-third of the children (32.7) had complaints of diarrhea with abdominal pain in the last 3 months with 44.5 having a history of the expulsion of any type of worm with stool during that time. Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the proportion of under-five children with a parasitic infestation about their mother’s infestation. Method: This descriptive study was conducted among mothers and their under-five children of Vashantek slum, Dhaka Cantonment, Dhaka from March 2003 to June 2003. Results: The prevalence of intestinal parasites was found to be 52.0 (48.5% in children and 55.4 in mothers). The prevalence of Protozoa was 13.2%, for children 15.8% and 10.9% in mothers. Helminthes infestations were found among 39.6% of children and 54.5% mothers. Of the 56 mothers with intestinal parasitic infestations, 66.1 of their children showed positive results. The relative risk of parasitic infestation was 2.478 times higher among the children of the mothers having a parasitic infestation. Of the respondents, 39.6 children and 20.8 mothers had a history of taking anti-helminthic drugs during the last six months. Conclusion: More than half of the study sample has intestinal parasitic infestation with a statistically significant relationship between the parasitic infestation of mothers and children.