Comparative studies of intestinal parasitic infections between riverine and upland communities in Rivers state, Nigeria.

Abstract

The study compared the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among some Riverine communities with Upland communities in Rivers state, Nigeria. Three local government areas (LGAs) were randomly selected from both riverine and upland communities respectively and three communities were further selected from each of the LGAs where samples were collected. Sample size was calculated and a total of 1869 samples were collected and analyzed using wet saline/iodine and formol-ether concentration methods according to parasitological standards. One thousand and fifty nine samples were collected from upland communities while 810 samples were collected from riverine communities. Of these samples, 306(28.9%) were positive in the upland communities while 110 (13.6%) were positive in riverine communities. The difference between the prevalence in the upland and riverine communities was statistically significant (P<0.001).Parasites identified in the study include Ascaris lumbricoides (56.6%), hookworms (19.0), Trichuris trichiura (10.8%), Srongyloides stercoralis (2.9%) and Teania sp (1.8%). Despite the perceived lower standard of sanitation in the riverine communities, the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections was significantly lower than the upland communities.

Key words: Intestinal parasitic infections, Prevalence, upland, Riverine, Rivers State, Nigeria.