Frequency of Intestinal Parasites in Tehran

Background: For a long time, intestinal parasite infections are among the major problems of public health in Iran. Our aim was epidemiological studies on the frequency of intestinal parasites in patients re­ferred to three hospitals in Tehran during 2007-2008. Methods: During 2007-2008, by simple random selection, 1000 stool samples were collected from Mi­lad, Hazrat-e-Rasoul and Shahid Fahmideh hospitals in Tehran, Iran. We examined the samples using di­rect smear, formol-ethyl acetate concentration, Agar-plate culture and Ziehl-Neelsen staining tech­nique. Results: The frequency of intestinal parasites were: Blastocystis hominis 12.8%, Giardia lamblia 2.5%, En­tamoeba coli 4.8%, Iodamoeba butschlli 0.9%, unknown 4 nuclei cysts 0.4%, Endolimax nana 3.2%, Chilomastix mesnili 0.4%, Strongyloides stercoralis 0.1%, Hymenolepis nana 0.2% and Taenia sagi­nata 0.2%. Coccidian parasites were not found. Results show that infection with intestinal parasites does not statistically significant according to sex and age. Conclusion: The intestinal parasites, especially helminthic infections have been decreased during re­cent years.