Prevalence of intestinal parasite infections among patients in local public hospitals of Hail, Northwestern Saudi Arabia

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of intestinal parasites among patients in Hail, Northwestern Saudi Arabia. Methods: Stool samples were collected from 130 patients (69 females and 61 males) in Hail General Hospital. Each sample was examined by direct wet mount microscopic examination using both normal saline and Lugol's iodine preparation and concentration techniques using salt and formol-ether solutions. Permanent stained smears were performed for intestinal coccidian using modified Ziehl-Neelsen technique. Results: The overall prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection was 45.38% (59 cases). Forty-four (33.84%) were found to be infected with one or more intestinal protozoa, 5 (3.84%) were infected with helminthes and 10 (7.69%) had mixed infection with both helminthes and protozoa. The most common intestinal helminth detected was Ancylostoma duodenale (n=5, 3.84%), followed by Ascaris lumbricoides, Taenia sp. and Trichuris trichiura (n=2 for each species, 1.5%). For intestinal protozoa, the coccidian Cryptosporidium parvum (n=25, 19.23%) was the most common followed by Entamoeba histolytica/dispur (n=21, 16.15%), Giardia lamblia (n=15, 11.54%), Entamoeba coli. (n=5, 3.85%) and Blastocystis hominis (n=3, 2.30%). The prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections in females was significantly higher than in males (P<0.05). Conclusions: This is the first study highlighting that intestinal parasites are still an important public health problem in Northwestern Saudi Arabia. Therefore, health education would be the best way to prevent from intestinal parasite infections which are mainly food borne diseases.