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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · J Lab Physicians 2023; 15(01): 004-019
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1751319
Review Article

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Soil-Transmitted Helminthic Infections in the Pediatric Population in India: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Parul Chopra
1   Department of Laboratory Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
,
Sudhanshu Shekhar 
2   Department of Pathology/Lab Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Kalyani, West Bengal, India
,
Vikas Karamchand Dagar
3   Department of Pathology, Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, Maharashtra, India
,
Shivam Pandey
4   Department of Biostatistics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
› Author Affiliations Funding None.
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Abstract

Soil-transmitted helminths (STH) is a major healthcare challenge in the pediatric age group affecting poor and deprived parts of our community. The main species that infect people are roundworm (AL, Ascaris lumbricoides), whipworm (TT, Trichuris trichiura), and hookworms (HW, Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus). We aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of STH infections in India in the pediatric age group (< 18 years) and assess the risk factors associated with STH in this age group. Three databases were searched (PubMed, Scopus, and Embase) up to February 16, 2021 with deliberate and inclusive search terms for original research articles estimating the prevalence of either of the three STH in India. Data extracted included individual prevalence of the three STH, prevalence of double or triple infections, and associated risk factors.

We identified systematically 1,408 publications, of which 44 were included for the final analysis, including studies from 20 states covering 34,590 children. In our study, the prevalence of AL ranged from 0.8 to 91% with a pooled prevalence of 25%, prevalence of TT ranged from 0.3 to 72% with a pooled prevalence of 13%, and for HW prevalence ranged from 0.2 to 80% with pooled prevalence of 10%. Two most important risk factors with higher odds ratio were open defecation practices or open latrine (odds ratio: 5.2) and washing hands without soap using water only (odds ratio: 2.49). Knowledge of areas with high prevalence of STH and associated risk factors would help in designing effective control strategies in the high-risk groups to prevent infection and aid in a drastic reduction of morbidity in children.

Keywords

Ascaris - hookworm - prevalence - soil-transmitted helminth - Trichuris

Authors' Contributions

P.C. and S.S. conceptualized the study. P.C. and S.S. contributed to data extraction. P.C., S.S., and S.P. did formal analysis. P.C., S.S., and V.K.D. were involved in supervision. P.C. and S.S. wrote the original draft. P.C., S.S., V.K.D., and S.P. were involved in writing, review, and editing. P.C., S.S., V.K.D., and S.P. gave approval of final version. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.


Availability of Data and Materials

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.


Supplementary Material



Publication History

Article published online:
17 August 2022

© 2022. The Indian Association of Laboratory Physicians. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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Comment to this article:

Deworm the World Initiative: How much Progress India has Made?J Lab Physicians 2023; 15(01): 001-003
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1760408

 

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