Intestinal parasites in children up to 14 years old hospitalized with diarrhea in Mozambique, 2014-2019

OL Nhambirre, I Cossa-Moiane, AFL Bauhofer, A Chissaque, ML Lobo, O Matos, N de Deus

    Research output: Contribution to journalA1: Web of Science-articlepeer-review

    Abstract

    Diarrhea remains a public health problem in Mozambique, even with control strategies being implemented. This analysis aimed to determine the proportion and factors associated with intestinal parasitic infection (IPI) in children up to 14 years old with diarrheal disease, in the southern, central and northern regions of Mozambique. A single diarrheal sample of 1424 children was collected in hospitals and examined using the formol-ether concentration and modified Ziehl-Neelsen techniques to identify intestinal parasites using optical microscopy. Sociodemographic characteristics were obtained by questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and cross-tabulation were performed, and p-values <0.05 were considered statistically significant. A single IPI was detected in 19.2% (273/1424) of the children. Cryptosporidium spp. was the most common parasite (8.1%; 115/1424). Polyparasitism was seen in 26.0% (71/273), with the co-infection of Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura (26.8%; 19/71) being the most common. Age and province were related to IPI (p-value < 0.05). The highest occurrence of IPI was observed in the wet period (October to March), with 21.9% (140/640), compared to the dry period (April to September), with 16.9% (131/776) (p-value = 0.017). Cryptosporidium spp. and the combination of A. lumbricoides/T. trichiura were the main intestinal parasites observed in children hospitalized with diarrhea in Mozambique.
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalPathogens
    Volume11
    Issue number3
    Number of pages10
    ISSN2076-0817
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2022

    Keywords

    • Mozambique
    • Children
    • Diarrhea
    • Intestinal parasites

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