Trends and prevalence of intestinal parasites at a tertiary care center in Lebanon over a decade

Abstract

Intestinal parasitic infections or infestation are amongst the most prevalent infections worldwide. This study aimed at revealing the changing trends over a decade duration of intestinal parasites identified at a major tertiary care center in Lebanon between 1997-1998 and 2007-2008. The total number of specimens tested were 14,771 for 1997-1998 vs 7477 for 2007-2008. The positive findings for parasites were 2077 (14percent) vs 1047 (14percent), respectively. The majority of recovered parasites in both study periods belonged to intestinal protozoa (91percent and 95percent), followed by cestodes (6percent and 3percent), and nematodes (3percent and 2percent), while trematodes were negligible in both periods. The highest prevalence occurred among ages 16 to 35 years for 1997-1998, and without age predominance in the second period. The detected parasites from 1686 individuals (11.4percent) in the first period vs 904 (12.1percent) in the second period encompassed 18 species. The most common pathogenic parasite in both periods were: Entamoeba histolytica (14percent vs 12percent), Giardia lamblia (16percent vs 6percent), Taenia spp. (6percent vs 3percent), and Ascaris lumbricoides (2percent vs 1percent). Generally, these were detected more in males than females, in adults than in children, and during the summer (≈ 30percent) and autumn (≈ 26percent) than winter (≈ 20percent) seasons for both periods. Despite some observable decrease in prevalence among the two study periods, sustainability of substantial intestinal parasites detection continues to exist. The latter is a valuable indicator for a state of collective ill-health, warranting more attention and efforts for public health awareness to improve hygiene and sanitation in order to minimize the prevalence of these parasites in this country.