Abstract

Parasitic infections are considered amajor health problem in rural areas of developing countries like India. Awareness regarding soil transmitted helminthic infections still outstrips the protozoan infections resulting in their neglect and under reporting. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES – To study the six-year prevalence of intestinal protozoan infections in middle Assam from the records of patients attending Jorhat Medical College and Hospital which is a tertiary care centre catering to the entire middle Assam. METHODS – A retrospective cross-sectional study was done by collecting data from records of intestinal protozoan isolates from January 2017 to December 2022. Data was analysed by using EpiInfo and association between different variables was calculated by Chi square test using p value < 0.05 as significant. RESULTS – From a total of 1579 stool samples received over 6 years, 249 (15.77%) were positive for intestinal parasites out of which 123 (49.39%) were protozoan infections. Different parasites were reported with Entamoeba histolytica/dispar being the predominant one (87.80%), followed by Giardia lamblia (9.76%) and 3 cases (2.44%) of co-infection with soil transmitted helminths. The prevalence was higher in males (60.98%) than females (39.02%) and the 21–40-year-old age group showed the highest prevalence.

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