Intestinal Parasitic Infections among School Children in Shendi, Sudan: Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Diagnostic Insights

Background : Intestinal parasites infections represent one of the most important global public health problems, especially in the tropical and sub-tropical areas of Africa, Asia, Central and South America. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasites in center and rural areas of Shendi locality. Meathods : School based Cross-sectional study was conducted from January2021 to April 2024. 1200 students were selected using a simple random sampling method. Data were collected through direct interview by using a pretested questionnaire. The stool specimens were collected with labeled clean blastic containers and examined microscopically for the presence of eggs, cysts and trophozoites of intestinal parasites. Data entry and analysis were done using SPSS software. Results : The overall prevalence of intestinal parasite was 431 (35.9%) and the mean intensity was (12.04 epg). the prevalence rate among male was 231 (38.1%) and female was 200 (33.7%). prevalence rates increased to reach (47.0)%,at the age-group(5-7) years, and then declined to reach (33.8)% at the age-group(8-10) years, and reach(27.0)% at the age-group (11-13) years. P value of chi square test is 0.001 < 0.05 which is less than the level of significance, it means that there is a statistically significant relationship between age and infection prevalence. the result showed slightly high in fecal egg count between two techniques, Flotation and FECT, mean parasite number was 5.1 epg, 7.1 epg in FLO and FECT respectively. a total of 6 genera of gastrointestinal parasites were identified, three protozoans namely; Entamoeba coli 140(11.7%), E. histolytica 105(8.8%), Giardia lamblia 87(7.3%), and three helminthes of them; one nematode namely; Entrobius vermicularis 31(2.6%), and two cestodes namely; Hymenolepis nana 56(4.7%) and Taenia spp 4(0.3%). Significant variation in prevalence rate among residential area, age-group, transmissions awareness, hand washing material at school, hand washing after defecation and symptoms of parasitic disease P value < 0.05. Conclusion : According to diagnostic technique, some effective measures for combating the investigated parasites were recommended, including implementation of health education and, prevention of infection, improvement of the environmental sanitation and continuous assessment of epidemiological studies. Adopting effective diagnostic methods for stool examination, such as concentration techniques, that were conducted in this study and the need to train workers in the health field on them to obtain more accurate results.