The Role of Housing Type and Drinking Water in Prevalence of Intestinal Parasites Among Pupils of A Number of Primary Schools in Rural Area of Al-Taamem Province-Iraq

The results of examining 806 pupils of 19 primary schools in rural regions of Al-Taamem province living in houses of variable buildings and drinking water from different sources revealed their infection with the following intestinal parasites: Protozoa ; Giardia lamblia 9.90% ; Entamoeba coli 5.30% ; E. histolytica 4.73% ; Iodamoeba butschlii 1.32% ; Endolimax nana 0.88% ; Chilomastix mesnili 0.50% and Trichomonas hominis 0.19% . Helminths ; Hymenolepis nana 4.03% ; Enterobius vermicularis 2.10% ; Ascaris lumbricoides 0.63% and Trichuris trichiura 0.38% with a total percent of infection 29.95%. The highest infection rate appeared in pupils inhabited muddy houses which differs significantly (P = 0.05) from all other types of houses and those using water from wells from other sources of water.