Prevalence of intestinal parasites in individuals referred to Milad hospital, Tehran, Iran

Intestinal parasitic infection is still one of the major health concerns in the world and particularly in Iran. Due to the lack of a clear picture of the distribution of intestinal parasitic infection in Tehran, this study was conducted to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasites in patients referred to the Milad Hospital in Tehran.
In this descriptive cross-sectional study, three time-separated fecal samples were collected from 448 consented patients through an easy sampling from April ýto December 2011. The samples were examined by three methods, direct smear, formalin-ether concentration, and culture in horse serum ýmedium. Associations between prevalence of intestinal parasiticinfection ý and demographic characteristics of individuals, and reason for referral were evaluated.
The prevalence of enteric parasites was 32.4%. One hundred forty-five individuals were infected with at least one of the species of intestinal protozoon including; 134 (29.9%) Blastocystis sp., 14 (3.1%) Entamoeba coli, 6 (1.3%) Giardia lamblia, 5 (1.1%) Endolimax nana, 3 (0.7%), Entamoeba complex, 3 (0.7%) Iodamoeba butschlii, 2 (0.4%) Dientamoeba fragilis, 1 (0.2%) Trichomonas hominis, intestinal helminth infection including; 1 (0.2%) Trichostrongylus sp. and 1 (0.2%) Hymenolepis nana. Statistical analysis showed that chance of infection with intestinal parasites increased with age (p=0.003). There was no correlation between prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection and gender or reason for referral.
This study revealed an overall prevalence of 32.4% intestinal parasitic infection among patients referred to the Milad Hospital, a community center in Tehran. The enteric protozoan parasite of Blastocystis sp. infection had the highest prevalence, being 29.9% as most of the species detected are believed to be transmitted through cysts along with water and food. Improving public education, sanitation and hygiene standards is expected to reduce transmission of intestinal parasites in this population