[Intestinal parasitoses detected in primary schoolchildren in the Van province]

This study was carried out on school children in primary schools in the Van province in order to investigate the distribution of intestinal parasitoses. The study was conducted in 7-15 year-old primary schoolchildren during the years from 2003-2005. Stool specimens were taken from 2975 school children; of these, 1289 were female and 1686, male. The specimens were examined by native-Lugol, flotation and trichrome staining methods in the parasitology laboratory of the Health Research and Training Hospital, Yüzüncü Yil University. One or more parasite species were detected in 1916 (64.4%) stool specimens of 2975 children. Parasitosis was detected in 65.7% of females and in 63.4% of males. Blastocystis hominis, Giardia intestinalis, Entamoeba coli, Iodamoeba butschlii, Chilomastix mesnili, Endolimax nana, Entamoeba histolytica/Entamoeba dispar, Entamoeba hartmanni, Enteromonas hominis, Retortamonas intestinalis, Dientamoeba fragilis, Trichomonas hominis, Ascaris lumbricoides, Hymenolepis nana, Trichuris trichiura, Enterobius vermicularis and Fasciola hepatica were detected in 27.4%, 16.4%, 14.9%, 3.9%, 2.9%, 1.8%, 1.1%, 0.6%, 0.5%, 0.5%, 0.4%, 0.2%, 7.5%, 5.3%, 0.7%, 0.6% and 0.03% of the specimens, respectively. In conclusion, there are still high rates of intestinal parasitoses in school children in this region because care is not taken in hygiene and the socioeconomic status is low in the Van province.