Contribution of intestinal parasites in the under-five diarrhea cases in Bubanza Province, Burundi
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Date
2022
Authors
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Publisher
Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
A case-control study was conducted in the under-five children attending the Bubanza
provincial hospital in Burundi from March to May 2021 to assess the contribution of
selected intestinal parasites to diarrhea cases in the under-five children. A total of 340
stool samples were collected using cleaned cups, properly labelled and examined for
intestinal parasites by direct microscopic examination using normal saline. Aliquots of
remaining samples were preserved with 10% formalin and later examined by formal ether
concentration technique and modified Ziehl-Nielsen method for diagnosis of
Cryptosporidium spp. Socio-demographic data and risk factors were collected using a
semi-structured questionnaire. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 21.
Univariate and multivariate logistic regression used to compute the statistical association
between positivity to intestinal parasites and independent variables including age of
children, sex of children, marital status of the parents, source of income of the parents,
education level of parents, source of water used, treatment of water, consumption of raw
fruit, washing hands before consumption of fruit. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered
as significant. Out of 340 children examined, 20.8% were detected in the study. About
17.3%, 1.7%, and 1.7% of the children were infested with Entamoeba spp, Ascaris and
Ancylostoma, respectively. Multivariate regression model didn’t reveal a significance in
differences between the seasons (rain and dry season) in relation to the intestinal parasitic
infestation (OR=11.2; 95% CI: 0.9-12; p = 0.05). Majority of the children attending the
hospital without diarrhea were tested negative against intestinal parasitism (OR=0.08;
95% CI: 0.04-0.2; p = 0.00). This study found intestinal parasitic infestations to be highly
prevalent in the study area. It is recommended to promote health education particularly to
the parents / caregiver of the children, improving sanitation as well as promoting drinking safe water in order to control and prevent intestinal parasite infestations. These methods
were done to improve their health situation.
Description
Dissertation
Keywords
Intestinal parasites contribution, Under-five diarrhea, Bubanza Province, Burundi