Epidemiological Studies of Polyparasitism and Gender Associated Factors in Women in Igede Land

Introduction: Polyparasitism remains one of the most pressing public health problems with one third of the world population generally estimated to be infected. Also, Women are particularly of concern due to their gender roles which is sensitive since ill health and/or the illness of family members generally represent greater burdens for poor women in comparison to poor men.

Aim: To epidemiologically study polyparasitism in Women of Reproductive age in Igede land of Benue State, Nigeria.

Study Design: A cross-sectional study design was adopted for this study. Fresh stool, urine and blood samples were collected from women in Igede Land of Benue State and processed for internal parasites, urine parasites and malaria parasite respectively from September 2019 to August, 2021 using systematic random sampling technique. The study was restricted to women of reproductive age in Igedeland only. Well-structured questionnaires were further utilized to elicit information on associated factors related to polyparasitism. Positive samples were afterwards processed molecularly using PCR technology and the results documented. Data obtained was analysed using SPSS and comparative analysis was done using chi-square statistical tool.

Results: The overall rate of polyparasitism is this study was 3.50% while a prevalence of 33.50% was recorded for single parasitic infection. The dominant parasite was Plasmodium spp. (52.16%) while the least was Strongyloides stercoralis (1.44%). Parasite combination involving Schistosoma haematobium and Malaria parasite recorded highest prevalence (36.11%) while least prevalence was recorded for coinfection with Hookworm, Entamoeba histolytica and Asccaris lumbricoides. (8.33%). Also, associated factors of excretion and water source were significant (P<0.05) while meat consumption and sanitation were not significant P>0.05).

Conclusion: Polyparasitism among women in Igedeland of Benue State is relatively low with malaria parasite being the most dominant parasite.

Recommendations: Awareness on polyparasitism should be increased among women and antihelminthic and antimalarial drugs should be distributed free of charge to women so as to help reduce the burden of parasite infection in the study area.