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. 2019 May 10;12(1):262.
doi: 10.1186/s13104-019-4302-4.

Intestinal parasitic infections and associated factors among street dwellers' in Dessie town, North-East Ethiopia: a cross sectional study

Daniel Getacher Feleke  1 , Edosa Kebede Wage  2 , Tigist Getachew  2 , Alemu Gedefie  2
Affiliations

Intestinal parasitic infections and associated factors among street dwellers' in Dessie town, North-East Ethiopia: a cross sectional study

Daniel Getacher Feleke et al. BMC Res Notes. .

Abstract

Objective: Intestinal parasitic infections are among the major cause of diseases of public health problems in sub-Saharan Africa. In Ethiopia, epidemiological information on street dwellers is very limited. So, this study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated factors of intestinal parasite among street dwellers' in Dessie town, North-East, Ethiopia.

Results: A cross-sectional study was carried out on street dwellers in Dessie town from November 2017 to February, 2018. Stool specimen was examined by direct wet mount, formol-ether concentration technique and modified Ziehl-Neelsen methods. Majority of study participants were males 220 (89.4%). The mean age of the study participants were 22.85 (SD = 4.78) years. The overall parasite prevalence was 108/246 (43.9%). Among the six different intestinal parasites detected, H. nana 33 (13.4) and E. histolytica 24 (9.8%) were dominant. Multivariate analysis showed, shoe wearing habit (P = 0.035), hand washing habit after toilet (P = 0.035), and history of animal contact (P = 0.016) had statistically significant association with intestinal parasitic infections after adjusting other variables. Although the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections in this study was lower than previous studies conducted in similar study groups. The prevention and control strategies of intestinal parasites should address the poor segment of populations including street dwellers.

Keywords: Ethiopia; Intestinal parasites; Street dwellers.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Ethical clearance was obtained from the institutional review board of Wollo University, College of Medicines and Health Sciences. The objective of the study was explained and written consent form was used to ask participants’ or guardians’ (in case of children) for their willingness. Intestinal parasites infected street dwellers were treated with the appropriate anti-parasitic drugs.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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