Entamoeba histolytica and other parasitic infections in south Kanara district, Karnataka

Single stool specimens collected from 1,020 apparently healthy people of the South Kanara District, were processed for intestinal parasites using three parasitological methods viz. (a) Direct smear in physiological saline and D'Antoni's iodine, (b) Zinc sulfate concentration method and (c) by culture in modified Boek and Drbolhav medium. Of these 781 (76.51 per cent) were found to be infected with parasites. The prevalence of various intestinal parasites was: Ascaris lumbricoides (48.33 per cent), Necator americanus (46.86 per cent), Trichuris trichiura (42.75 per cent), Entamoeba coli (23.24 per cent), Entamoeba histolytica (7.94 per cent), Enterobius vermicularis (2.84 per cent), Giardia intestinalis (2.45 per cent), Iodamoeba buitschlii (1.57 per cent), Entamoeba hartmanni (1.37 per cent), Trichomonas hominis (0.88 per cent), Strongyloides stercoralis (0.68 per cent), Hymenolepis nana (0.49 per cent), Chilomastis mesnili (0.10 per cent) and Endolimax nana (0.10 per cent). High incidence of parasitic infections was recorded in females and age group of 6-14 years.