Incidence of Hookworm Infestation amongst School Childrens in Bihar

Abstract

Background: Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus are the blood sucking nematodes commonly called hookworms. They cause mild to severe anemia in patients especially children. The most common cause for hookworm infection is unhygienic conditions of the surroundings.  Methods: 780 stool samples were collected from the children from three schools. All the stool samples were subjected to wet mount by iodine and saline.Theywerealsosubjected to concentration technique by formalin ethyl acetate solution. Complete Blood Picture, estimation of Hemoglobin was done for all children for anemia and eosinophil testing. Results:10.1%of the stool samples were positive for hook worms with 43 boys and 36 girls. 79.1% of the males and 88.3% of females were anemic with overall percentage being. Most of the children were from poor background with unhygienic conditions. Conclusion: Since most children belonged to poor background with unhygienic conditions, , health education, improvement in sanitation, and mass treatment in affected areas can betried.

Keywords: Concentration methods, Hookworm, anemia, Unhygienic conditions.