Prevalence of Intestinal Parasites Among Mentally Disabled in Welfare Boarding Center of Taft City

The prevalence of parasitic infections in many countries, especially in developing countries as a health problem arises and intestinal parasitic diseases have adversely effects on quality of life. Mentally disabled individuals that are kept in boarding institutions for various reasons, including close contact with each other, the impossibility of self-care at acceptable levels and the lack of personal hygiene standards are at risk for these infections. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasites among mentally retarded residents of Alzahra center in Taft city This descriptive – cross sectional study was carried out on 129 institutions of mentally retarded patients of Taft city in the summer of 2014. Stool samples were collected from each person; direct smear, formalin-ether concentration method and modified Ziehl-Neelsen stained smear were examined microscopically for intestinal parasites. Data using SPSS software and chisquare test were statistical analyzed. Of 129 disabled patients in this study, 48.1% were male and the rest were female. In this study, a total of 55 cases (42.6%) were infected with at least one of intestinal parasites. Prevalence of intestinal parasites were as follows: Chilomastix mesnil 8 cases (6.2%), Giardia lamblia cysts 17 cases (13.2%), Entamoeba coli cysts 22 cases (17%), Blastocystis hominis 4 cases (3.1%), Iodamoebaa butschlii 3 cases (2.3%) and Endolimax nana 1 case (0.8%). Chi-square test showed that there was no significant relationship between sex and parasitic infection (p>0.05). The results showed that the prevalence of intestinal protozoan particular some pathogen species were higher than expected. Further efforts to improve the health level, early detection and treatment of those infected can limit transmition of infection in the population of mentally retarded.