Abstract:

An epidemiological investigation was performed to understand the prevalence and relevant factors of ascaris infection in primary and middle school students in rural areas of Qingyuan. Thirty rural schools in 8 towns of Qingxin District, Qingyuan City, were selected using stratified cluster random sampling method from 2015 to 2017. The fecal samples were collected from students and examined for Ascaris eggs under microscope using modified Kato-Katz thick smear method. In addition, a survey was conducted on the selected students, parents and teachers for their health habits and behaviors, school environment and parents’ education level by issuing a questionnaire and data were analyzed using a multivariate unconditional logistic regression. Results showed that a total of 116 case with ascaris infection were detected among 3 792 students with an average infection rate of 3.06%. The prevalence of ascaris infection was decreasing over the years with 3.68% (46/1 251) in 2015 to 2.28% (29/1 272) in 2017 with statistical significance(P < 0.05). However, the infection difference between the males (3.11%, 67/2 153) and females(3.24%, 59/1 819) was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The infection rate in students living in mountain rural area (4.04%, 81/2 005) was higher than those living in suburb rural area (1.78%, 35/1 967) with statistical difference(P < 0.01). Ascaris infection was detected in all age groups with the highest infection rate among students aged 7 to 9 (5.50%, 66/1 201). The infection rate in primary school students (4.28%, 97/2 264) was higher than that in middle school students (1.11%, 19/1 708). The questionnairing demonstrated that the infection rate among students was associated to the factors such as living area, age, personal hygiene habit, home hygiene condition, parents’ education level, school hygiene condition, health education. The investigation reveals a low ascaris infection rate among students in the District, with higher infection rate in students with age of 7-9 and those living in mountainous areas than those living in suburban areas.

Key words: Countryside, Student, Ascaris infection, Epidemiology