Prevalence of intestinal parasites in pediatric patients admitted to van regional training and research hospital

The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of intestinal parasites in children admitted to Van Regional Training and Research Hospital, to evaluate some factors affecting the frequency of these parasites and to reveal the importance of intestinal parasites in children. This study was conducted between November 2012 and March 2013 in a total of 300 patients, 135 female and 165 male, aged 0-17 years who were admitted to Van Regional Training and Research Hospital of Health Sciences University. In addition, Patient and / or patient relatives were provided to fill out questionnaires including questions such as whether there was a barn or not, the monthly income level of the family, the education level of the parents, the occupation of the parents, the play area where the children play, the type of residence where the family resides, the number of siblings, the cleanliness of the toilet, whether or not the sewerage network. Stool samples were first examined by native-Lugol method. Then, Then, modified acid-fast staining method was applied to these samples and evaluated for agents such as Cryptosporidium spp. and Cyclospora cayetanensis. In this study, one or more parasitic species were found in 87 (29%) of the 300 pediatric patients whose stool samples were examined. Forty-one (35.6%) of female patients included in the study had intestinal parasites positive in 39 (23.6%) of male patients. In the study, Giardia intestinalis was 9.7%, Blastocystis hominis 8%, Cryptosporidium spp. 2.3%, C. cayetanensis 0.7% and Hymenolepis nana 0.7%. As a result, in our study, parasites such as G. .intestinalis and H. nana, as well as Crypytosporidium and C. cayetanensis have been detected in pediatric patients infected with intestinal parasites at a high rate of 29%. These results indicated that the routine parasitological aspects of pediatric patients who applied to hospitals should be used not only in the native method but also in modified acid-fast staining methods. In addition, the high intestinal parasitic rate we detected in our study once again revealed the importance of these agents in the child age group. Key words: Ġntestinal parasites, child patients, prevalence