• S Awasthi, T Verma, P V Kotecha, V Venkatesh, V Joshi, and S Roy.
• Department of Pediatrics, CSMMU (Upgraded King George Medical College), Lucknow, India. sawasthi@sancharnet.in
• Indian J Med Sci. 2008 Dec 1; 62 (12): 484-91.

BackgroundIntestinal worm infestation is widely prevalent in developing countries and can result in impaired nutrition and development.AimsTo estimate prevalence of and risk factors for intestinal geohelminths and other intestinal parasites in children aged 6 to 23 months.Settings And DesignCross sectional study in rural India.Materials And MethodsProportionate population size sampling method was used to randomly select 15 villages per block. Thereafter, house-to-house survey was done to recruit eligible children and obtain fecal sample for microbiological examination.Statistical AnalysisUnivariate distribution of variables was assessed and comparison between categorical variables and continuous variables was done using a Chi-square test and student's t-test, respectively. Odds ratio was calculated to assess associations.ResultsOverall 926 children were recruited and 909 fecal samples examined. Combined prevalence of infestation with intestinal geohelminths treatable by albendazole and other intestinal parasites non-treatable by albendazole was 50.3% (457/909) and 51.6% (469/909), respectively. Exclusive use of hand pump water (OR = 1.79, CI = 1.36-2.35, P CONCLUSION: Since almost half the children are infected with intestinal geohelminths treatable by albendazole, targeted deworming of population in this age group should be considered.

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