Intestinal parasitic infection in Bhil tribe of Rajasthan, India

Abstract

A total of 224 Bhil tribal individuals (115 males and 109 females) of different age groups inhabiting tribal rural areas of Udaipur district of Rajasthan, India were investigated for the prevalence of intestinal parasitic (protozoan and helminths) infections. Fresh stool samples of these tribal subjects were examined microscopically by direct wet smear with saline and 1 % Lugol's iodine and formaline ether concentration. Of these 116 (51.78 %) were found to be infected with diverse species of intestinal parasites. Male individuals showed relatively higher (56.52 %) prevalence of infection as compared to their counterparts (46.78 %). Out of 116 infected tribal subjects, 53 (23.66 %), 33 (14.73 %) and 30 (13.39 %) were infected with protozoan, helminths and mixed (protozoan ? helminths) parasitic infections, respectively. Maximum number of parasitic infections occurred in the age group of 6-10 years (69.23 %) in both sexes. Among the intestinal parasites, Entamoeba histolytica was the commonest (14.73 %) followed by Entamoeba coli (8.92 %), Taenia solium (5.35 %), Ascaris lumbricoides (4.46 %), Hymenolepis nana (2.23 %), Ancylostoma duodenale (0.89 %), Strongyloides stercoralis (0.89 %), Trichuris trichiura (0.44 %) and Hymenolepis diminuta (0.44 %). Data pertaining to distribution of parasite species in different age groups, and variation in prevalence of their infection in relation to age and sex were also analysed statistically and found to be significant. Possible causes for variation in prevalence of protozoan and helminthic infection are discussed.

Spectrum of Parasitic Infections in Patients with Diarrhea Attending a Tertiary Care Hospital in Western Rajasthan, India

“…The study conducted in Udaipur among the individuals of Bhil tribe [27] showed a high isolation rate of about 51.78% as compared to this study. Such differences may occur due to the varied socioeconomic conditions of different communities.…”

“…Such variations may be due to equal involvement of females in outdoor activities as compared to males nowadays. In various studies, the most common age group involved was 6-20 years [14,18,19,27] as compared to this study, where it is 31-40 years. In a previous study also, the trend of parasitic infection in recent years has shown to predominate among adults as compared to children [9].…”

“…Many goals are being set from time to time for their control, but due to lack of epidemiological data, it is difficult to accomplish them. As far as Rajasthan is concerned, very few data from different places [24][25][26][27][28] are reported in literature. These studies have not included the intestinal commensals which, besides serving as indicators of the socioeconomic and sanitation conditions of a population, are on the rise causing various opportunistic infections [7,8].…”

“…Several studies have been undertaken in different parts of India [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] and few parts of Rajasthan [24][25][26][27][28]. These infections still continue to predominate and similar studies would definitely add to the existing knowledge of parasitic infections in patients suffering from gastrointestinal problems.…”

Gastrointestinal parasitic infection in diverse species of domestic ruminants inhabiting tribal rural areas of southern Rajasthan, India

“…These samples were processed for wet film preparation using 1 % Lugol's iodine and formalin ether concentration technique (Paniker 2002) for the evidence of protozoan and helminthic infection (Choubisa et al 2012). Identification of ova, cysts, trophozoites and larvae of these parasites was made on the basis of morphological features (Soulsby 1982).…”