title: Intestinal parasitic infections among expatriate workers in Al-Madina Al-Munawarah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
abstract: Al Madinah Al Munawarah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has one of the largest number of expatriate workers. Most of them are from Sri-Lanka, Indonesia, Philippines, India and Bangladesh. These countries are considered as endemic areas for intestinal parasites. A total of 2732 stool samples were screened for intestinal parasites. Positive cases were recorded among 407 stool samples (14.9%). The common parasitic infections were encountered among 20-29 age groups (18.5%) while, the lowest infection rate was among individual ≥ 50 years (11.8%). According to the nationality, the highest infections were recorded among Pakistanis (23.2%), followed by Philippines (22.2%), Sudanese workers (18.7%), and the lowest infection rates were recorded among Bangladeshi individuals. The infected persons were farmers, food handlers and shepherds. The detected intestinal parasites were Giardia lamblia (21.9%), Entamoeba histolytica/Entamoeba coli (17.8%), Trichuris trichiura (16.2%), Ascaris lumbricoides (15.8%), hookworm (13%), Hymenolepis nana (8.9%), Strongyloides sterocoralis (3.5%), Schistosoma mansoni (2.2%), and Enterobius vermicularis (0.43%). In conclusion, the high prevalence of parasites among expatriates may produce health problem among the Saudi society due to the nature of the expatriates' work.
authors.affiliation: Biology Department, Faculty of Science, Taibah University, Al-Madina Al-Munawarah, KSA. hodabadawy3@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Hoda A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Taha
authors.forename: Mohammed I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Soliman
authors.forename: Sanaa A N
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Banjar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D005006:Ethnicity; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010271:Parasites / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015995:Prevalence; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult