Intestinal parasitic infection among rural schoolchildren in Taiz, Yemen: School-based assessment of the prevalence and associated risk factors

Socio-demographic variables	categories	Frequency (n)	Percentage (%)
Age	≤10	344	72
	>10	134	28
Sex	Male	271	56.7
	Female	207	43.3
Parent’s educational status	literate	225	47.1
	illiterate	253	52.9
Family size	<5	236	49.4
	≥ 5	242	50.6
Washing hand before meals	Always	148	31.0
	sometimes	330	69.0
Defecation habits	Latrine	153	32.0
	Open field	325	68.0
Eating washed fruits and vegetables	Always	132	27.6
	sometimes	346	72.4
Source of drinking water	Protected tap water	147	30.8
	Unprotected stream/well	331	60.2
Swimming practice in rivers/ ponds	Sometimes	240	50.20
	Always	238	49.8
Washing clothes/utensil in open water sources	Sometimes	261	54.6
	Always	217	45.4
Dirty unclipping Fingernails	Always	144	30.1
	Sometimes	334	69.9
Existing of animals inside the house	No	258	54.0
	Yes	220	46.0

Table 2

Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among schoolchildren in rural communities of Taiz, Yemen (2019 – 2020).

Parasite species	Number positive	Percentage (%)
Overall	245	51.26
Protozoa
Giardia lamblia	74	15.5
E.histolytica/dispar/moshkovskii	71	14.9
Total	145	30.3
Helminths
Schistosoma mansoni	62	13.0
Ascaris lumbercoid	18	3.8
Trichuris trichiura	14	2.9
Enterobius vermicularis	6	1.3
Total	100	20.9
Single	179	37.4
Double	21	4.4
Triple	8	1.7

Table 3

Distribution of intestinal parasitic infections among schoolchildren in rural communities of Taiz, Yemen (2019 – 2020) according to gender.

Parasite species	Gender^a Male n (%)	Female n (%)	P value
Protozoa
Giardia lamblia	44 (16.2)	30 (14.5)	0.602
E.histolytica/dispar/moshkovskii	41 (15.1)	30 (14.5)	0.846
Total	85 (31.4)	60 (29.0)	0.786
Helminths
Schistosoma mansoni	33 (12.2)	29 (14.0)	0.715
Ascaris lumbricoides	11 (4.1)	7 (3.4)	0.700
Trichuris trichiura	6 (2.2)	8 (3.9)	0.289
Enterobius vermicularis	3 (1.1)	3 (1.4)	0.739
Total	53 (19.6)	47 (22.7)	0.462

[i] The total number examined was 271 for males and 207 for females.

Table 4

Distribution of intestinal parasitic infections among schoolchildren in rural communities of Taiz, Yemen (2019 – 2020) according to age.

Parasite species	Age group (years)^a		P value
	≤10 n (%)	>10 n (%)
Protozoa
Giardia lamblia	62 (18.0)	12 (9.0)	0.014
E.histolytica/dispar/moshkovskii	58 (16.9)	13 (9.7)	0.061
Total	120 (34.9)	25 (18.7)	0.018
Helminths
Schistosoma mansoni	41(11.9)	21(15.7)	0.273
Ascaris lumbricoides	17 (4.9)	1 (0.8)	0.032^b
Trichuris trichiura	10 (2.9)	4 (3.0)	1.000^b
Enterobius vermicularis	5 (1.4)	1 (0.8)	1.000^b
Total	73(21.2)	27(20.2)	0.386

[i] The total number examined was 344 for age group ≤10 years and 134 for age group >10 years.

[ii] Calculated for Fisher’s exact test.

Table 5

Univariate and multivariate analysis of potential risk factors associated with intestinal parasitic infections among schoolchildren in rural communities of Taiz, Yemen

Variables		Infected %	OR (95% CL)	P value	AOR (95% CL)	P value
Age	>10	31.3	1		1
	≤10	43.6	1.391 (1.054-1.837)	0.014*	0.903(0.210-1.524)	0.601
Gender	Male	39.1	1
	Female	41.5	1.106(0.765-1.600)	0.591
Parent’s educational status	educated	41.3	1
	Non educated	39.1	0.912(0.633-1.316)	0.624
Family size	>5	41.2	1
	≤ 5	39.0	1.102(0.764-1.589)	0.602
Washing hand before meals	Always	31.0	1		1
	sometimes	44.0	1.753(1.157-2.657)	0.008*	2.07(1.281-3.368)	0.013*
Defecation habits	Latrine	32.0	1		1
	Open field	54.7	2.558(1.741-3.757)	0.001*	1.869(1.216-2.874)	0.004*
Eating washed fruits and vegetables	Always	27.5	1		1
	sometimes	55.6	3.299(2.252-4.831)	0.001*	0.289(0.010-1.37)	0.011*
Source of drinking water	Protected tap water	30.7	1		1
	Unprotected stream/well	52.1	2.457(1.689-3.575)	0.001*	1.09(0.901-2.10)	0.074
Swimming practice in rivers/ ponds	Sometimes	50.0	1		1
	Always	37.1	0.444(0.293-0.671)	0.074
Washing clothes/utensil in open water sources	Sometimes	54.7	1
	Always	45.3	0.537(0.221-0.937)	0.069
Dirty unclipping Fingernails	Always	30.1	1		1
	Sometimes	54.0	2.725(1.868-3.976)	0.001*	0.545(0.352-0.845)	0.023*
Existing of animals inside the house	No	32.3	1		1
	Yes	53.4	2.395 (1.636-3.507)	0.001*	1.048(0.981-2.639)	0.068

[i] *Statistically significant at P<0.05; 1 = reference value; OR = odds ratio; AOR = adjusted odds ratio

Table 6

Univariate and multivariate analysis of potential risk factors associated with Giardia lamblia among schoolchildren in rural communities of Taiz, Yemen.

Variables		Infected %	OR (95% CL)	P value	AOR (95% CL)	P value
Age	≤10	18.0	1		1
	>10	9.0	0.447 (0.233-0.860)	0.014*	1.403 (0.833-1.890)	0.074
Gender	Male	16.2	1
	Female	14.5	0.874(0.528-1.0447)	0.602
Parent’s educational status	educated	52.7	1
	Non educated	47.3	0.766(0.466-1.258)	0.291
Family size	>5	55.4	1
	≤ 5	44.6	0.751(0.456-1.236)	0.259
Washing hand before meals	Always	54.0	1
	sometimes	14.1	0.859(0.491-1.492)	0.583
Defecation habits	latrine	11.4	1		1
	Open field	22.7	2.094(1.184-3.704)	0.001*	1.473(0.830-2.522)	0.024*
Eating unwashed fruits and vegetables	Always	9.2	1		1
	Sometimes	23.1	2.987(1.766-5.052)	0.001*	1.238(0.0.133-2.425)	0.020*
Source of drinking water	Protected tap water	6.7	1		1
	Unprotected stream/well	26.5	4.998(2.833-8.817)	0.001*	2.261(0.879-3.473)	0.037*
Swimming practice in rivers/ ponds	Sometimes	14.8	1		1
	Always	17.5	0.759(0.442-1.303)	0.485
Washing clothes/utensil in open water sources	Sometimes	11.5	1		1
	Always	21.4	2.082(1.292-3.538)	0.004*	0.938(0.071-1.70)	0.084
Dirty unclipping fingernail	always	11.2	1		1
	Sometimes	21.3	2.137(1.292-3.535)	0.003*	1.041(0.301-1.9400	0.066
Existing of animals inside the house	No	12.0	1		1.
	Yes	21.3	1.967(1.113-3.478)	0.006*	2.24(0.932-3.12)	0.130

[i] *Statistically significant at P<0.05; 1 = reference value; OR = crude odds ratio; AOR = adjusted odds ratio

Table 7

Univariate and multivariate logistic of potential risk factors associated with Schistosoma mansoni among schoolchildren in rural communities of Taiz, Yemen.

Variables		Infected %	OR (95% CL)	P value	AOR (95% CL)	P value
Age	<10	11.9	0.662(0347-1.265)	0.273
	>10	15.7	1
Gender	Male	16.2	1
	Female	14.5	1.175(0.688-2.007)	0.555
Parent’s educational status	educated	13.8	1
	Non educated	12.3	0.874(0.512-1.490)	0.620
Family size	>5	13.1	1
	<5	12.1	1.127(0.660-1.924)	0.661
Washing hand before eating	Always	13.4	1
	sometimes	12.0	0.590(0.309-1.126)	0.673
Defecation habits	latrine	11.1	1		1
	Open field	16.3	1.017(0.173-2.947)	0.041*	2.383(1.302-4.363	0.005*
Eating unwashed fruits and vegetables	Always	14.9	1
	sometimes	10.6	0.681(0.393-1.181)	0.170
Source of drinking water	Protected tap water	14.6	1
	Unprotected stream/ well	10.9	0.715(0.413-1.240)	0.231
Swimming practice in rivers/ ponds	Sometimes	9.4	1		1
	Always	15.8	2.472 (1.667-3.046)	0.011*	1.826(1.048-3.183)	0.005*
Washing clothes/utensil in open water	Sometimes	8.3	1
sources	Always	16.1	2.473 (1.260-3.865)	0.013*	2.73(1.79-4.015)	0.825
Dirty unclipping fingernail	Always	12.6	1
	Sometimes	11.3	0.784 (0.437-1.404)	0.412
Existing animals inside house	Yes	15.7	1
	No	11.3	0.685 (0.400-1.174)	0.167

[i] * Statistically significant at P<0.05; 1 = reference value; OR = odds ratio; AOR = adjusted odds rati

References

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Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/helm-2022-0032 | Journal eISSN: 1336-9083 | Journal ISSN: 0440-6605

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Language: English

Page range: 233 - 245

Submitted on: Dec 22, 2021

Accepted on: Sep 1, 2022

Published on: Dec 17, 2022

Published by: Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Parasitology

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Publication frequency: Volume open

Keywords:

Intestinal parasites,

Taiz,

Yemen,

Related subjects:

Zoology,

Ecology,

Life sciences, other,

Medicine,

Clinical medicine,

Microbiology, virology and infection epidemiology

© 2022 T. Alharazi, published by Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Parasitology
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Volume 59 (2022): Issue 3 (September 2022)

Intestinal parasitic infection among rural schoolchildren in Taiz, Yemen: School-based assessment of the prevalence and associated risk factors

Figures & Tables

Fig. 1

Table 1