Migrant Workers in Malaysia: Current Implications of Sociodemographic and Environmental Characteristics in the Transmission of Intestinal Parasitic Infections

A cross-sectional study of intestinal parasitic infections amongst migrant workers in malaysia was conducted. a total of 388 workers were recruited from five sectors including manufacturing,construction,plantation,domestic and food services. the majority were recruited from indonesia (n = 167,43.3%),followed by nepal (n = 81,20.9%),bangladesh (n = 70,18%),india (n = 47,12.1%) and myanmar (n = 23,5.9.2%). a total of four nematode species (ascaris lumbricoides,trichuris trichiura,enterobius vermicularis and hookworms),one cestode (hymenolepis nana) and three protozoan species (entamoeba histolytica/dispar,giardia sp. and cryptosporidium spp.) were identified. high prevalence of infections with a. lumbricoides (43.3%) was recorded followed by hookworms (13.1%),e. histolytica/dispar (11.6%),giardia sp. (10.8%),t. trichura (9.5%),cryptosporodium spp. (3.1%),h. nana (1.8%) and e. vermicularis (0.5%). infections were significantly influenced by socio-demographic (nationality),and environmental characteristics (length of working years in the country,employment sector and educational level). up to 84.0% of migrant workers from nepal and 83.0% from india were infected with intestinal parasites,with the ascarid nematode a. lumbricoides occurring in 72.8% of the nepalese and 68.1% of the indian population. in addition,workers with an employment history of less than a year or newly arrived in malaysia were most likely to show high levels of infection as prevalence of workers infected with a. lumbricoides was reduced from 58.2% to 35.4% following a year’s residence. these findings suggest that improvement is warranted in public health and should include mandatory medical screening upon entry into the country. © 2016 sahimin et al.