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Prevalence and associated risk factors of Giardia duodenalis infection among school-going children in Nepal

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Abstract

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasites and its associated risk factors among school-going children in Kathmandu, Nepal. Between August and September 2016, a total of 333 stool samples were collected from children at five public schools. The collected samples were subjected to formol-ether concentration, followed by conventional microscopic examination for intestinal parasites. The overall prevalence of intestinal parasites was 24.3% (81/333), with Giardia spp. showing the highest prevalence of 18.9% (63/333). Samples positive for Giardia spp. by microscopy were further subjected to quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) for G. duodenalis, resulting in a positive ratio of 100%. The positive ratio of Giardia spp. was considerably high among children consuming tanker water (27.3%), jar water (21.0%), and tap water (17.5%). Our results demonstrated that G. duodenalis remains predominant in school-going children in Nepal.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank participants for their cooperation during the study. We are also grateful to the technical staff of the Public Health Research Laboratory, Tribhuvan University, Nepal; Tulane University, USA; Sadhana Shrestha; and Bijay Man Shakya (University of Yamanashi, Japan) for their technical support and guidance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Public Health Research Laboratory, Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, 1524, Kathmandu, Nepal

    Sarmila Tandukar, Jeevan B. Sherchand & Dinesh Bhandari

  2. Department of Global Environmental Health Sciences, Tulane University, 1440 Canal Street, Suite 2100, New Orleans, LA, 70112, USA

    Jia Xue & Samendra P. Sherchan

  3. Department of Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, MC-250205 North Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL, 61801-2352, USA

    Sital Uprety

  4. Department of Natural, Biotic and Social Environment Engineering, University of Yamanashi, 4-3-11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi, 400-8511, Japan

    Sarmila Tandukar, Bikash Malla & Rajani Ghaju Shrestha

  5. Padma Kanya Multiple Campus, Tribhuvan University, Bagbazar, Kathmandu, Nepal

    Laxmi Parajuli, Shristi Poudel & Ashmita Dhital

  6. Interdisciplinary Center for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi, 4-3-11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi, 400-8511, Japan

    Eiji Haramoto

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  1. Sarmila Tandukar
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  2. Jeevan B. Sherchand
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  12. Eiji Haramoto
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Correspondence to Eiji Haramoto.

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Tandukar, S., Sherchand, J.B., Xue, J. et al. Prevalence and associated risk factors of Giardia duodenalis infection among school-going children in Nepal. Parasitol Res 117, 287–293 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-017-5706-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-017-5706-5

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