Prevalence of schistosoma mansoni and intestinal parasites with evaluation of hepatic schistosomiasis in a rural area after governmental efforts (Gharbia governorate)

The study was carried out on 2136 individuals from Abo El-Gohoor village. Their ages ranged from 1-72 years with a mean of 28.3 +/- 22.4 years. They were 46.7% males and 53.3% females. The village was divided into sectors. The inhabitants of each sector were examined clinically with history taking through home visits. Three successive stool samples for each individual were examined by the concentration technique. Abdominal ultrasound was done for hepatic and splenic assessment. Rectal biopsy was done for 200 subjects with negative stool samples for Schistosoma mansoni (S. mansoni) ova. Sex distribution was equal in this group. Their ages ranged from 18 to 45 years with a mean of 30.1 +/- 9.5 years. S. mansoni prevalence was 19.3% of individuals through stool examination and 12.5% out of 200 individuals with active schistosomiasis after rectal biopsy (the total prevalence was approximately 29.4%). Hepatic schistosomiasis was 18.8%. Hepatomegaly, hepatosplenomegaly, hepatic fibrosis without and with ascites were 6.0%, 8.8%, 2.5% and 1.5% of examined patients, respectively. The prevalence of intestinal parasites was 37.5% and 27.8% for E. histolytica and G. lamblia, respectively, 9.2% for H. nana, 6.2%, 9.6%, 2.4% and 1.5% for A. lumbricoides, E. vermicularis, T. trichura and A. duodenale, respectively and F. gigantica was 0.4%. A total of 84.6% of examined subjects had parasitic infestations, 60.2% had one parasite, 19.6% had 2 parasites, 4.2% had 3 parasites and 0.7% had 4 parasites. The study revealed some success of governmental efforts for control of schistosomiasis. The prevalence of S. mansoni through stool examination showed a prevalence lower than that reported before but which does not represent the actual prevalence of S. mansoni and rectal biopsy in addition gave more accurate results.