Abstract

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of intestinal parasites among patients of a tertiary care hospital. Methods: A total of 12,054 samples received from the outpatient as well as inpatient departments from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2009 in Al-Noor Specialist Hospital, Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Stool examinations were performed by direct method and concentrated Techniques for all patients. Results: Overall, the prevalence of intestinal parasites was 6.2% (740 cases). Majority of patients were infected by Entamoeba histolytica (4.7%) followed by Giardia lamblia (1.3%), while Ankylostoma duodenal (0.02%) exhibited the minimum prevalence. Parasitic infections were more frequent in non-Saudis than Saudis patients (7.1% vs. 5.8%; p <0.05). There was no significant difference between males and females regarding parasitic infections, with a female:male ratio of 1:1.08. There was a higher prevalence in patients under five years of age (9.1%), followed by patients aged 5-14 years (7.5%). Conclusion: The notable finding from this study is the high prevalence of E. histolytica. Overall, parasitic infections were more prevalent in patients under five years of age and in non-Saudi nationals.

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Publication details

DOI
10.5001/omj.2011.44
Journal
Oman Medical Journal
Publisher
Oman Medical Specialty Board
Open access
Gold open access

Cite this article

APA 7

Zaglool, D. A., Khodari, Y. A., Gazzaz, Z. J., Dhafar, K. O., Shaker, H. A., & Farooq, M. U. (2011). Prevalence of Intestinal Parasites among Patients of Al-Noor Specialist Hospital, Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Oman Medical Journal. https://doi.org/10.5001/omj.2011.44

MLA 9

Zaglool, Dina AM, et al. "Prevalence of Intestinal Parasites among Patients of Al-Noor Specialist Hospital, Makkah, Saudi Arabia." Oman Medical Journal, 2011. https://doi.org/10.5001/omj.2011.44.

Chicago (author–date)

Zaglool, Dina AM, Yousif AW Khodari, Zohair J. Gazzaz, Khalid O. Dhafar, Hani AS Shaker, and Mian U. Farooq. 2011. "Prevalence of Intestinal Parasites among Patients of Al-Noor Specialist Hospital, Makkah, Saudi Arabia." Oman Medical Journal. https://doi.org/10.5001/omj.2011.44.

Harvard

Zaglool, D. A., Khodari, Y. A., Gazzaz, Z. J., Dhafar, K. O., Shaker, H. A. and Farooq, M. U. (2011) 'Prevalence of Intestinal Parasites among Patients of Al-Noor Specialist Hospital, Makkah, Saudi Arabia', Oman Medical Journal. doi:10.5001/omj.2011.44.

Vancouver

Zaglool DA, Khodari YA, Gazzaz ZJ, Dhafar KO, Shaker HA, Farooq MU. Prevalence of Intestinal Parasites among Patients of Al-Noor Specialist Hospital, Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Oman Medical Journal. 2011. doi:10.5001/omj.2011.44

IEEE

D. A. Zaglool, Y. A. Khodari, Z. J. Gazzaz, K. O. Dhafar, H. A. Shaker, and M. U. Farooq, "Prevalence of Intestinal Parasites among Patients of Al-Noor Specialist Hospital, Makkah, Saudi Arabia," Oman Medical Journal, 2011, doi: 10.5001/omj.2011.44.