Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among university female students, Gaza, Palestine

BACKGROUND: The intestinal parasites are still endemic among children, women, and men in Gaza Strip. OBJECTIVES: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of intestinal parasites among young female students of Islamic University of Gaza to report the existence and prevalence of intestinal parasites. METHODS: A total of 305 stool samples were collected from female students in all faculties and were examined by wet mount and formal ether sedimentation technique. RESULTS: This study showed that the overall prevalence of intestinal parasites was 20.6%. The detected intestinal parasites were as follows: Entamoeba histolytica/dispar (7.5%), Giardia lamblia (4.9%), Ascaris lumbricoides (0.3%), Entamoeba coli (2.6%), Dientamoeba fragilis (1.0%), and Blastocystis hominis (3.9%). Science students showed the highest prevalence for parasitic infections (35.3%), and married students (16.7%) had higher prevalence than single students (6.5%). CONCLUSION: It was concluded that female students also are under risk of gaining parasitic infection in spite of their education. It is recommended that university students should be subjected to regular medical examinations for parasitic infections.