Prevalence of Giardia lamblia infection in children attendants to the outpatient clinics of Al-Azhar University Hospital in Assiut

Background and aim Giardia lamblia is one of the most frequent intestinal protozoans presents in humans both in Egypt and worldwide. Giardiasis commonly affects young children, many of whom are undernourished, living in limited-resource settings without or with inadequate access to clean water or good sanitation. In this study we aimed to assess the prevalence of G. lamblia infection in children’s attendants to the outpatient clinics of Al-Azhar University Hospital in Assiut. Patients and methods The examination was done for 434 stool samples from 434 children (221 male and 213 female) with mean age/years 6.09±3.1. Results There were 228 children infected with intestinal parasites representing rate of 52.5%. The prevalence of G. lamblia was found that out of 434 children 99 (22.8%) have G. lamblia . Out of 99 children, 50 (50.5%) have G. lamblia as single infection and 49 (49.5%) have Giardia lamblia mixed with other parasites. Out of 49 children two (2.02%) have Entamoeba coli , 38 (38.39%) have Entamoeba histolytica , five (1.2%) have Entamoeba histolytica and Oxyuris , two (2.02%) have Ascaris lumbricoides , and two (5.05%) have Hymenolepis nana . Conclusion G . lamblia , is one of the most prevalent intestinal protozoans present in humans both in Egypt and worldwide. The prevalence of G. lamblia as a mixed infection was 22.8%, while the prevalence of G. lamblia as single infection was 11.5%.