[Intestinal parasitosis in children less than five years of age in Niamey, Niger]

According to the WHO, in 2002, 3.5 billion of people worldwide were infected with intestinal parasites. Every year, roundworms, hookworms and amoebae are the cause of 195,000 deaths around the world. Despite this high prevalence, these infections are said to be neglected and attract little interest. And yet, they are sometimes very grave especially when contracted by children where they can lead to malnutrition. This prospective study aims to clarify the overall prevalence of intestinal parasites in children.

The study took place in the pediatric service of the Lamorde national Hospital and the two pediatric services of the Niamey national hospital. This descriptive and analytical study, took place from April to June 2011. Included were children aged 1 month to 59 months, having had a stool examination.

The search for parasites was positive in 66 children (33%). The prevalence is statistically higher (p = 0.02) among children 25-59 months (43.84%) than among those whose age is between 1-24 months (26.77%). Male children were more infected than female with respectively 38.7% and 28.04% infection rates.

Intestinal parasites are frequent in Niamey, despite numerous deworming campaigns. There's been more parasitic protozoa caused by a proportion of 81, 81%, against a proportion of 18, 18 % for metazoans. Conducting a study on the national scale is necessary to understand the general prevalence of intestinal parasites. This would enable a more adapted strategy to the fight against these illnesses.