Soil-transmitted helminth infections among pre-school aged children in Gamo Gofa zone, Southern Ethiopia: Prevalence, intensity and intervention status

BACKGROUND: Soil-transmitted helminths (STH), i.e., Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and hookworms are among the most prevalent Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in Ethiopia. Although pre-school aged children pay a high morbidity toll associated with STH infections, evidence on prevalence, intensity and intervention status is lacking in Ethiopia. This study, therefore, aimed to address these gaps to inform decision made on STH. METHODS: We did a community-based cross-sectional study in five districts of Gamo Gofa zone, Southern Ethiopia; in January 2019. Data were collected using pre-tested questionnaire, and the Kato-Katz technique was used to diagnose parasites eggs in stool. Then, collected data were edited and entered into EpiData 4.4.2, and exported to SPSS software (IBM, version 25) for analysis. RESULTS: A total of 2462 PSAC participated in this study. Overall, the prevalence of STH was 23.5% (578/2462) (95% confidence interval (CI) = 21.8%–25.2%). As caris lumbricoides was the most prevalent (18.6%), followed by Trichuris trichiura (9.2%), and hookworms (3.1%). Of the total, 7.4% PSAC were infected with two STH species. Most of the positive cases with STH showed low infection intensities, while 15.1% ascariasis cases showed moderate infection intensities. The study found that 68.7% of PSAC were treated with albendazole. Also, household’s level data showed that 39.4% used water from hand-dug well; 52.5% need to travel ≥30 minutes to collect water; 77.5% did not treat water, and 48.9% had no hand washing facility. In addition, almost 93% care givers achieved less than the mean knowledge and practice score (≤5) on STH prevention. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that significant proportions of pre-school aged children are suffering from STH infections despite preventive chemotherapy exist at the study area. Also, gaps in the interventions against STH were highlighted. Thus, a call for action is demanding to eliminate STH among PSAC in Ethiopia by 2030.