Major Intestinal Helminth Infections in the Anuak Population of Four Rural Villages in Southwestern Ethiopia

Abstract

A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 1996 on 496 people from four villages near the town of Gambella, Southwestern Ethiopia, in order to characterize the major types of helminth parasites in the area. Stool examination was carried out, using the formol-ethyl acetate centrifugal sedimentation technique. Infection due to hookworm species was the most prevalent (55.0%) followed by Ascaris lumbricoides (41.1%) and Trichiuris trrichiura (8.9%). The prevalence of Schistosoma mansoni infection was 1.4%. It was found that 59.3%, 63.7% and 55.7% of the infections due to ascaris, trichiuris and hookworms, respectively, were encountered in children below the age of 15 years with high infection rates in the 5-14 years age group. Multiple infections were common with 41.7% of the examined having two or more parasite combinations the double infections. Of all the double infections, 66.2% were due to Ascaris lumbricoides and the hookworms. It is recommended that any conirol attempt towards intestinal helminthes in the areas should target at the youngest segment of the population.