Epidemiology of intestinal parasitic infections in school children in Ghazni Province,eastern afghanistan

Objective: to estimate the prevalence of intestinal parasites and their species in afghan school children and to establish appropriate treatment methods for detected pathogens. methods: parasitological examination of stool samples collected from 1369 children aged 8-18,students of the jahan malika high school in ghazni province in eastern afghanistan,was conducted in the period november 2013-april 2014. three stool samples were collected from each patient every second day; the samples were fixed in 10% formalin and tested by light microscopy using the methods of direct smear in lugol’s solution,decantation in distilled water,and fülleborn’s flotation. results: of 535 examined children (39.1% of the study group) were infected with nematodes (n=324),cestodes (n=118),trematodes (n=12),and protozoa (n=228),132 were diagnosed with co-infections (mainly ascariasis+giardiasis,ascariasis+hymenolepiasis) and received single or combined therapy. conclusions: the afghan community is an example of population characterized by a high rate of parasitic infections. owing to high prevalence of multiple infections among inhabitants of afghanistan,it seems that a mass deworming campaign with a single-dose chemotherapy may prove ineffective in eradicating intestinal parasites in the local population. © 2015,pakistan journal of medical sciences. all rights reserved.