title: Prevalence ofEnterobius vermicularisamongst kindergartens and preschool children in Mazandaran Province, North of Iran.
abstract: Enterobiasis (oxyuriasis) is probably the most common helminth, which infects humans. Amongst different age groups, prevalence ofEnterobius vermicularisin children is high compared to adults. Oxyuriasis is one of the most significant parasitic diseases of children. This nematode in children can result in loss of appetite, insomnia, grinding of the teeth, restlessness, endometritis, abdominal cramps, diarrhea and etc. Due to important complications of this parasite, the objective of the current study was to determine the prevalence of enterobiasis in kindergarten and preschool children of Amol, Mazandaran Province, North of Iran. A total number of 462 children from 32 kindergartens of Amol were examined for the prevalence ofE. vermicularisinfection, 2013. Adhesive cello-tape anal swab method was trained to parents for sampling. In addition, a questionnaire was designed and filled out to collect demographic information for each individual. Data were analyzed using Chi square test and multivariate logistic regression for each risk factor. The overall prevalence ofE. vermicularisinfection was 7.1 % (33). Although infection withE. vermicularisin girls 7.9 % was higher compared to boys 6.3 %, there was no significant difference between gender and age (p> 0.05) whereas binary logistic regression showed significant difference between enterobiasis and age (p< 0.05). The findings indicated that the prevalence ofE. vermicularisin kindergarten and preschool children is relatively high and still is an important health problem and should not be underestimated due to being highly contagious infection. Therefore, educational programs and mass treatment should be carried out in order to reduce infection incidence in this area and regular parasitological test and attention to personal hygiene in kindergarten and preschool is of great importance.
authors.affiliation: Student Laboratory Sciences of the Amol Faculty of Paramedics, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Narges
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Afrakhteh
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Science, Zanjan, Iran.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Marhaba
authors.affiliation: Amol Faculty of Paramedics, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Seif Ali
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Mahdavi
authors.affiliation: Student Laboratory Sciences of the Amol Faculty of Paramedics, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Sahar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Garoosian
authors.affiliation: Student Laboratory Sciences of the Amol Faculty of Paramedics, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Reyhaneh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mirnezhad
authors.affiliation: Student Laboratory Sciences of the Amol Faculty of Paramedics, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahsa Eshkevar
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Vakili
authors.affiliation: Student Laboratory Sciences of the Amol Faculty of Paramedics, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Haniye Ahmadi
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Shahraj
authors.affiliation: Amol Faculty of Paramedics, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Behzad
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Javadian
authors.affiliation: Amol Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Rozita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rezaei
authors.affiliation: School of Health, Health Sciences Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahmood
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moosazadeh
keywords: Children; Enterobius vermicularis; Intestinal infection; Oxyuris; Prevalence; Primary schools