Abstract
Background: The intestinal parasites are still endemic among children, women, and men in Gaza
Strip. Objectives: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of intestinal parasites among
young female students of Islamic University of Gaza to report the existence and prevalence
of intestinal parasites. Methods: A total of 305 stool samples were collected from female students in all faculties
and were examined by wet mount and formal ether sedimentation technique. Results: This study showed that the overall prevalence of intestinal parasites was 20.6%.
The detected intestinal parasites were as follows: Entamoeba histolytica/dispar (7.5%), Giardia lamblia (4.9%), Ascaris lumbricoides (0.3%), Entamoeba coli (2.6%), Dientamoeba fragilis (1.0%), and Blastocystis hominis (3.9%). Science students showed the highest prevalence for parasitic infections (35.3%),
and married students (16.7%) had higher prevalence than single students (6.5%). Conclusion: It was concluded that female students also are under risk of gaining parasitic infection
in spite of their education. It is recommended that university students should be
subjected to regular medical examinations for parasitic infections.
Keywords
Adults - age - Gaza - parasitic diseases - prevalence
