Prevalence of Giardia lamblia among Residents of Hawler, Soran and Chamchamal Cities, North of Iraq

Abstract

Giardia lamblia is a pathogenic intestinal protozoan with high prevalence in developing countries, especially among children. The majority of Giardia lamblia infections are asymptomatic. However, in some especially children, giardiasis is associated with sub-acute or chronic diarrhea and intestinal irritation. This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of Giardia lamblia in Hawler, Soran and Chamchamal Cities, North of Iraq. A total of (5258) samples were examined for detection of Giardia lamblia in Hawler, Soran and Chamchamal from July (2018) to February (2019) by using direct microscopic examination. The data collected were coded, using specially designed coding system and entered into Microsoft Excel sheets, and then imported to a data management solution, statistically package for social sciences (SPSS) version 23. Out of (5258) samples examined, 219 (4.2%) were positive for Giardia lamblia by direct microscopic examination. The prevalence rate of Giardia lamblia among males (4.6%) was higher than females (3.4%) with a statistically significant difference. Highest rate of giardiasis was recorded in Chamchamal (8.5%), while lowest rate was recorded in Soran (3.3%) and the difference was statistically significant. In prevalence of Giardia lamblia according to months, the results showed no significant differences, in spite of highest rate of infection was recorded in July (4.9%) and lowest rate was observed in November (3.2%). Finally, in prevalence of giardiasis in both Chamchamal and Soran, there were higher infection rates in females in comparison to males, while in contrast to that, Hawler had higher male rates than females, and the result showed a statistically significant difference. In our study we concluded that giardiasis is more common among males than females. We also concluded that the rate of infection was affected by location and the technique used in hospitals and laboratories.