Medical Laboratory Sciences

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Browsing Medical Laboratory Sciences by Author "Abera, Dessie"

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    Association of Intestinal Helminthic Infection, Atopy and Allergic Disorder in the Setting of Mass Deworming Among Selected Government Primary School Children in Sululta Woreda, Oromia, Ethiopia
    (Addis Ababa University, 2017-11) Abera, Dessie; Tsegaye, Aster (PhD)
    Background: Intestinal helminthic infections have been suggested to play protective role from allergic sensitization and atopic diseases. There is a concern that deworming could increase the prevalence of atopic disease in endemic populations. There is inconsistent and little information about the relationship between helminthic infection and allergic disease in Ethiopia. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the association of intestinal helminthes and atopy /allergic disorder in the setting of mass deworming among school children in Sululta, Oromia, Ethiopia. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 526 school children aged 5 to 14 years from three selected government primary schools in Sululta woreda. Information on socio-demographic characteristic, associated risk factors and allergic symptoms were obtained using questionnaire. From all children, fresh stool samples were collected and processed by direct wet mount, formol-ether concentration and Kato-Katz technique and atopy was assessed by skin prick test (SPT). In addition, venous blood was collected for eosinophil count. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version21 statistical software. The odds ratio and 95% confidence interval was calculated to assess the strength of the association. P-value less than 0.05 were considered as statistically significant. Results: Of the total 526 school children 58.2% (306) were females. Overall 24% (n=126/526) had questionnaire based allergic symptoms while 5.1 % (n=27/526) had skin prick test reactivity, 16.9% of them (n=89/526) had intestinal helminthic infection. All helminthic infections were with low intensity level. There was no association between helminthic infection and allergic symptoms (OR=1.30, 95% CI=0.778-2.171, P=0.317). Ascaris lumbricoides infection was positively associated with skin test reactivity (AOR=4.307, 95%CI=1.143-16.222, P=0.031). Atopy was significantly associated with increased allergy symptoms (AOR=2.787, 95%CI=1.253-6.197, P=0.012). Short term deworming had no effect on atopy but has a protective effect on allergic symptom. Conclusion: Low intensity and low prevalence of helminthic infection in our findings may have contributed to the non-significant association of allergy and helminthes infection; however, Ascaris lumbricoides was positively associated with atopy. Further longitudinal study is recommended to examine the mechanism of Ascaris lumbricoides infection for the development of atopy. Keywords: Atopy, Allergy, Intestinal helminthes, School children