African Journal of Parasitology Research

African Journal of Parasitology Research ISSN 2343-6549 Vol. 5 (10), pp. 348-352, October, 2018. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Assessment of the current level of intestinal protozoan and helminth infections in N’Djamena, Chad Republic

M. A. Hamit¹, M. T. Tidjani ¹ and C.F. Bilong Bilong²*

¹Faculty of Medicine, University of N’Djamena, Chad.

²Faculty of Science, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon; Po Box 812 Yaoundé, Cameroon.

*Corresponding author. E- mail: bilong_bilong @yahoo.com

Accepted 04 July, 2017

Abstract

This cross sectional study assessed the prevalence of intestinal protozoan and helminth infections in N’Djamena, Chad Republic, and determined the main epidemiological transmission factors of these pathogens in order to develop efficient control strategies of intestinal parasites. Four hundred and sixty two randomly selected persons, from eight quarters (administrative districts), of age less than one year to seventy six years old of both sexes, were examined in N’Djamena town. Out of the 462 samples, 235 (51%) were found to harbour at least one parasite species. The prevalences of the eight (8) parasite species detected were: Entamoeba histolytica (30%), Hymenolepis nana (13%), Ascaris lumbricoides (10%), Trichomonas hominis (6%), Giardia intestinalis (3%), hookworm (0.5%), and Schistosoma mansoni (0.2%). These pathogens appeared mostly in single infections. The quarters with higher infection indices were those that experienced floods (Abena and Chagoua) and where people do not use latrines (Naga and Goudji). The population customs and the environmental conditions in N’Djamena still favour high faecal- oral transmission of intestinal parasites.

Key words: Prevalence, Intestinal Parasites, Protozoans, Helminths, N’Djamena, Chad.