The Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among 7-15 year old children in Jahrom, Iran during 2006-7

One of the main reasons of the occuranle of intestinal parasitic infections in Communities is the asymptomatic infections in some people. Although there are some reports for parasitic infections from specialized laboratories, there is no confirmed data for these infections among children in Jahrom. It is due to low standards of the methods and also low accuracy in epidemiological studies. This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on 410 children aged 7-15 years old in Jahrom. clustering and accidental sampling were employed. Three samples of faecese for each child were examined for parasites using formalin – ether concentration method. The results showed a prevalence of 13.6% of intestinal parasitic infections among children in Jahrom. Among which, 9.3% were pathogen parasites. The highest prevalence was reported for Giardia lamblia (8.1%). There was an association between the rate of infection and mother,s education, family income and the family size. The lowest infection was found among the children whose mothers had clerical Jobs. Although this study indicated low prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among children in Jahrom, the prevalence of some of them is still high and important. This is a good reason for paying more attention on individual and environmental health such as rubbish despair, using clean and safe vegetables and fruits, and also frequent use of soap.