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Prevalence of intestinal parasites in food handlers of the city of Saqqez in 2016

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Abstract

This study was aimed at determining the prevalence of parasitic infections among the food handlers of Saqqez County in 2016. Stool samples collected from 1530 food handlers. All samples were examined by both direct technique and sedimentation technique using formalin-ethyl acetate for detecting the intestinal parasites. Of total participants, 1462 (95.6%) were male and 62 (4.4%) female. Intestinal parasitic infections were found in 92 (6.01%) individuals. The highest infection rate was due to Giardia lamblia (4.1%) and the lowest associated with Endolimax nana, Iodamoeba butschlii, and Hymenolepis nana (0.1%). No significant correlation between the intestinal parasitic infections and age, gender, education level, gastrointestinal signs and symptoms, and the type of profession, was established. The results of the present study revealed that only a small number of food handlers in Saqqez County were infected with intestinal parasites with G. lamblia as the most common cause of infection. More strict health control for those working in food industries is of vital importance and continuous education to improve the level of general health in these people is undoubtedly considered as a key determinant towards lower number of parasitic infections.

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Acknowledgements

The authors of the present study would like to sincerely appreciate the research Department of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences (Grant No. 256) for the financial support of the project. The results described in this article are part of an MSc dissertation conducted by MR Hiwa abdollahpour at the Department of Parasitology and Mycology. We thank Dr. Ali Asghar Pahlevan for editing the final version of the English manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, 34197-59811, Iran

    Mojtaba Shahnazi, Hiwa Abdollahpour, Mahboobeh Sadeghi, Mehrzad Saraei, Elham Hajialilo & Peyman Heydarian

  2. Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran

    Mojtaba Shahnazi, Mehrzad Saraei, Elham Hajialilo & Peyman Heydarian

  3. Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran

    Hiwa Abdollahpour & Mahboobeh Sadeghi

  4. Department of Social Medicine, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran

    Mahmood Alipour

Authors
  1. Mojtaba Shahnazi
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  2. Hiwa Abdollahpour
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  3. Mahmood Alipour
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  4. Mahboobeh Sadeghi
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  5. Mehrzad Saraei
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  6. Elham Hajialilo
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  7. Peyman Heydarian
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Contributions

MSH and MA conceived the project, designed the study and analysis of data. HA and MS collected samples. MS provided suggestion. EH and PH wrote, reviewed and edited the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Peyman Heydarian.

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Shahnazi, M., Abdollahpour, H., Alipour, M. et al. Prevalence of intestinal parasites in food handlers of the city of Saqqez in 2016. J Parasit Dis 43, 113–119 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12639-018-1065-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12639-018-1065-0

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