Prevalence and factors associated with intestinal parasites among under-five children attending Woreta Health Center, Northwest Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Environmental, social, geographical, and other factors could affect the distribution of intestinal parasites. Parasitic infections would impose on health and social problems like mal-absorption, diarrhea, impaired work capacity, and reduced growth rate. However, there is a scarcity of information regarding the prevalence of intestinal parasites and associated factors in the study area. METHODS: Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted among 310 study participants from April–May, 2017. Study participants were selected using a systematic random sampling technique. EPI Info version 7 and SPSS version 20 were used to enter and analyze the data. Both bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were computed. In multivariate analysis, variables with P-value < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. RESULTS: In this study, the mean age of participants was 29.25 Months. The overall prevalence of intestinal parasites was 18.7% (95% CI = 14.4–23.3). Children who rarely feed fresh meal (AOR = 7.74, 95% CI: 1.61, 7.84), Children whose nails were sometimes trimmed (AOR = 3.41, 95% CI: 2.20–10.28), children who had no clean playing ground (AOR = 2.43, 95% CI: 1.25–5.18), and children who had open defecation of the family (AOR = 3.40, 95% CI: 1.27–10.86) were significantly associated with intestinal parasitic infections. Among the intestinal parasites, 31(53.5%) were G.lamblia (Giardia lamblia) and 21(36.2%) were E. histolytica/E. dispar/E. moshkovskii. CONCLUSION: In this study, the prevalence of intestinal parasites was found low compared with the WHO annual or biannual population prevalence and treatment. However, strengthening of health education about food, personal and environmental hygiene of both children and mothers/guardians is crucial to limit the transmission. Besides, improving mothers/guardian awareness about the mode of intestinal parasites transmission is necessary.