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Published on: August 22, 2012
Prevalence of enterobiasis among primary school children in Ragama, Sri Lanka
N K Gunawardena1, T N Chandrasena, N R de Silva
1Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. kithsiri@kln.ac.lk.
Objectives:
To determine the prevalence of enterobiasis among school children in Ragama Medical Officer of Health (MOH) region and the association between clinical features, potential risk factors and infection status.
Design:
Cross sectional study.
Setting:
School based. Participants 260 school children aged 5-7 years, attending five state schools in the Ragama MOH region.
Main Outcome Measures:
Prevalence of Enterobius vermicularis infection as diagnosed using adhesive cellophane tapes on the perianal skin on 2 consecutive days.
Results:
The overall prevalence of enterobiasis was 38%. The risk factors significant on a univariate analysis were male gender, maternal under-education, non-permanency of paternal employment, more household members, more siblings in a family, more persons sleeping with an index child and lack of recent deworming. On a multivariate model more household members, more children in a household, more persons sleeping with the index child, non-permanency of paternal employment and lack of recent deworming were significantly associated with infection. None of the clinical manifestations evaluated (peri-anal itching, insomnia, abdominal pain, and enuresis) showed a significant association with enterobiasis.
Conclusions:
Enterobiasis is highly prevalent among primary school children in Ragama.
