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. 2020 Dec 11;10(1):21815.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-78743-y.

Prevalence of Ascaris lumbricoides in contaminated faecal samples of children residing in urban areas of Lahore, Pakistan

Shahida Azhar Ali  1 , Sadaf Niaz  2 , Liliana Aguilar-Marcelino  3 , Wajid Ali  4 , Majid Ali  4 , Adil Khan  5 , Sohail Amir  6 , Nasreen  2 , Abdullah D Alanazi  7 , Raquel Cossio-Bayugar  3 , Itzel Amaro-Estrada  3
Affiliations

Prevalence of Ascaris lumbricoides in contaminated faecal samples of children residing in urban areas of Lahore, Pakistan

Shahida Azhar Ali et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Ascariasis is a common public health problem of preschool and primary school children in developing countries like Pakistan. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence and pattern of Ascaris lumbericoides (A. lumbricoides) infection among children residing in urban areas of Lahore, to provide information on ascariasis to promote awareness and prevention programs between the participants specially on the months or season of higher prevalence. To investigate the prevalence of Ascaris Lumbricoides in the contaminated faecal samples of children residing in urban areas of Lahore, a study was conducted from November 2010 to October 2012 and we collected 3600 stratified faecal samples from six urban study areas. Overall 32/3600 (0.88%) prevalence of fecal samples was found positive for eggs of Ascaris lumbricoides. Area wise highest presence positivity 1.67% was observed in Allama Iqbal Town followed by 1.17% in Samanabad, 1.00% in Wapda Town, 1.00% in Gulberg, 0.50% in Cantt, and the lowest 0.00% in Valencia Town respectively (p < 0.001) The highest month wise positivity prevalence 3/300 (3.33%) (p < 0.001) was observed in the month of September that gradually declined up to 0/300 (0.00%) in the month of March. The results reveal that urban areas of Lahore are susceptible to Ascaris Lubricoides infection and the highest prevalence were observed autumn on the month of September.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Presence (%) of Ascaris lumbericoides’s eggs in soil samples of urban areas of Lahore (a) area wise, (b) month wise, (c) and seasonwise from Nov 2010- Oct 2012. Z-test * = P < 0.05, ** = P < 0.01, ***P < .001.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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