Frequency of Intestinal Parasites Among Administrators and Workers in Sanitary and Non-sanitary Institutions

OBJECTIVE: Transmission of parasites generally occurs through fecal-oral means directly from human to human or through receiving eggs and cysts by means of nourishment. The aim of the study was to investigate the frequency of intestinal parasites among administrators and workers in sanitary and non-sanitary institutions. METHODS: Stool specimens were examined using native-lugol, Trichrome and acid-fast stains methods. RESULTS: 23.7% of the 2443 fecal specimens were found to be positive. The frequencies of parasites were found to be 9.8% for Entamoeba coli, 7.2% for Blastocystis hominis, 7.2% for Iodamoeba butschlii, 3.4% for Giardia intestinalis, 0.9% for Dientamoeba fragilis, 0.13% for Entamoeba histolytica, 0.08% for Chilomastix mesnilii, 0.04% for Trichomonas intestinalis, 0.04% for Entamoeba hartmanni, 0.04% for Hymenolepis nana, 0.04% for Taenia spp. and 0.04% for Enterobius vermicularis. CONCLUSION: This rate of parasite positivity among healthy subjects visiting hospital for porter examination suggests that intestinal parasites still constitute a public health problem in the region. Moreover, it can be considered that one important factor in the frequency of the parasite can be both the nature of the jobs of administrators and workers in sanitary and non-sanitary institutions and their interaction with people during sales.