Publication:

Prevalence of intestinal parasites and its association factors, knowledge, attitude and practice about intestinal parasite Saint Peter TB specialized hospital Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Background Intestinal parasitic infections and HIV/AIDS have been the leading and persisting public health problems in the world. There vital causes of morbidity and mortality are remarkably high in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among patients attending Saint Peter hospital from December 2019 to May 2020. A total of 328 participants were select by using convenient sampling method. Socio-demographic data and knowledge, attitude and practice were collected using a structured questioner. Stool specimen was collected using clean container and processed and analyzed for parasitological examination using direct wet mount, formal-ether sedimentation and modified Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) staining techniques. Venous blood was collected and the CD4+ T-lymphocyte and hemoglobin analyzed by Presto instrument. The data were analyzed by using SPSS version 23 and p values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Results A total of 328 HIV-positive individuals (59.8% female) of age ranging from 13-72 years (mean=41.8, SD=10.8) participated in this study. The overall prevalence of intestinal parasites among the study participants was 26.2% (86/328), from this 88.4% (76/86) was infected by single parasite. IP was significantly associated with CD4 count <200 AOR (4.736 CI: 2.338-9.594; p<0.001) and also anemia AOR (3.271 CI: 1.069-10.010).

Conclusions Intestinal parasitic infections are still common health problems among HIV/ADIS patients in the study area, so the health professionals need to give attention to parasitological examinations in the routine treatment of HIV/AIDS patients and also give education on these three parts knowledge, attitude and practice, but more focus and follow up on the practice of HIV/AIDS patients on transmission, prevention and control mechanisms of intestinal parasitosis.