Prevalence of Giardia Infection: A Cross-Sectional Study in Basra Province, Iraq

Giardiasis is a common parasite infection that is seen more frequently than any other parasitic infection worldwide. This infection is especially prevalent in tropical areas and in developing nations that have a poor standard of living and poor health conditions. The Giardia parasite is able to infect people of any gender, as it enters the body by the mouth, passes down the oesophagus, and finally reaches the stomach, where it is not negatively impacted by gastric acids. The goal of this study is to determine the extent to which patients who were treated at Al-Zubair General Hospital in Basra, Iraq, from January 1 to December 31, 2024, contracted Giardia lamblia. There were a total of 924 participants that took part in the cross-sectional survey. The collection and analysis of fecal matter samples were carried out using formalin-ethanol concentration techniques. The identification of G The morphological inspection of cysts and trophozoites under a microscope was used to identify lamblia. According to the findings of this study, Entamoeba histolytica was the most common infectious agent, with 117(12.6%) patients testing positive for the protozoan. Furthermore, there were 22 patients, which is 2.3% of the total, who tested positive for Giardia lamblia, and 3 patients, which is 0.3% of the total, who tested positive for Enterobius vermicularis. According to the gender distribution, there was a 2.5% infection rate of Giardia lamblia among males and a 2.1% infection rate among females. According to the statistical analysis, there was not a statistically significant relationship between the number of infections and the months in which the samples were collected or the various age groups.