A Cross Sectional Survey of Soil Transmitted Helminthes in Preschool Children in Mrani, a Rural Settlement, Kenya.

Abstract

Soil transmitted helminthes infections constitute one of the major obstacles to survival of children below the age of five years in many developing countries apart from other factors such as malnutrition and inaccessibility to safe water. This Crossectional survey conducted in Marani district, a rural setting was aimed at determining the presence of prevalence rates of various STH among preschool children usually aged below five years and the influence of demographic and socio-economic factors. Single stool specimen were collected from 106 children for the detection and identification of worm eggs using MiniParasep, a concentration technique. A structured questionnaire was used to identify demographic and socio-economic factors which impact on infection rates. Statistical software SPSS version was used to analyze the data. The overall prevalence of STH in the sample was 35.8%, with single infection of 30.2% and co-infection 5.6%. Ascaris lumbricoides accounted for a prevalence rate of 19.8% followed by hookworm infection at 7.5% and Trichuris trichiura infection at 2.8%. Male children had a higher infection rate of 43.6% compared to girl children at 27.5%.The levels of education of the parents had an influence on infection rates with higher education standards having lower infection rates. Water sources had some influence on prevalence rates with wells/rain combination having high infection rates of 25%, while river water had 22%.

Key words: soil transmitted helminthes, preschool children, rural setting.