Diseases caused by intestinal parasites impose a substantial burden on population of middle income countries including Pakistan. This research was aimed to assess the risk factors for intestinal parasites in school children of Malakand, Pakistan. Two hundred and eighty eight students were enrolled between February and June 2016. Out of the total enrolled 184 were agreed to collect stool specimens. A questionnaire was also used to collect the data on socio-demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the participants. All the students were guided to collect at least 10gof their own stool specimens. Each of the stool specimens was diagnosed for the presence of any stage of helminth or protozoal parasites. Formal ether concentration method and wet mount techniques were applied. One way ANOVA was used for calculation of P value when it was less than 0.05 which was considered significant. Eighty two percent of the participants were found infected with one species of parasite while 69.9% of the participants were infected with more than one species of intestinal parasites. The most prevalent parasite was hook worm 33.4% (n = 99/296) followed by Taenia saginata 28.7% (n = 85/296), Ascaris lumbricoides 27.7% (n = 82/296), Hymenolepis nana 6.08% (n = 18/296), Entamoeba histolytica 3.37% (n = 10/296) and least for each Enterobius vermicularis and Fasciola hepatica 0.37% (n = 1/296). Previously used drugs, level in school, ages, weight and upper arm circumference were the most significantly (P < 0.05) related factors for the occurrence of intestinal parasite infection. Present research endorsed that risk factors play a key role in the transmission of parasitic diseases. Lack of safe water supply, using raw vegetables, animal keeping, which should be considered for sustainable strategies in the control of these infections preferably in remote parts of the world.

Background. The current study was carried out between October 2017 and October 2018 to explore knowledge, attitudes, practices, and information sources regarding toxoplasmosis among pregnant women in Malakand region, the northwestern part of Pakistan. The current study was carried out between October 2017 and October 2018. Methods. A structured questionnaire was used to interview the women after taking verbal informed consent. Graphpad version 5 was used to indicate the differences. Significant was considered as a -value of less than 0.05. This study revealed poor knowledge regarding toxoplasmosis. Results. Overall, 31.2% of the respondents showed good knowledge, and 39.2% showed moderate knowledge. On the other hand, 29.5% of the participants showed poor knowledge about toxoplasmosis. The average knowledge score of pregnant women was , which is considered to be within the scale of good knowledge. Number of children within the pregnant multipara women was significantly associated with knowledge about toxoplasmosis. Pregnant women who measured in number of childbirths within a women showed the highest mean score of with 57 (44.8%) displaying a good knowledge level. Pregnant women with more than one child had significantly higher (<0.0001) knowledge scores compared to women with one child or none child. The majority of pregnant women with one child used the social media, followed by mass media as sources of information about toxoplasmosis. Scientific sources of information were used more commonly by pregnant women with none of the child birth. Conclusion. Pregnant women knowledge regarding toxoplasmosis was poor as compared to attitudes and practices. Health workers and newspapers/magazines were the main sources of information.

Summary: Diseases caused by intestinal parasites impose a substantial burden on the population of middle-income countries, including Pakistan. This research aimed to assess the risk factors for intestinal parasites in Malakand, Pakistan, school children. Three hundred sixty stool samples were collected from school children, of which 140 (39 %) tested positive for helminth, including taenids. The wet mount preparation in saline/iodine/methods was used for stool examination. The GraphPad Prism of version 5 was used to analyze the data, and the P value was considered significant when it was less than 0.05 % (at 95 % CI). Males were more infected at 40.7 % compared to female students at 33.3 %. (P>0.005 at 95 % CI). Among the helminth Ascaris lumbricoides was the most prevalent 30.71 % (n=43), taeniid species 22.85 % (n=32), Hookworms12.14 % (n=17), Hymenolepis nana 10 % (n=14), Enterobius vermicularis 7.85 % (n=1), Hymenolupis diminuta 6.42 % (n=9), and Trichuris trichiura 5.71 % (n=8) were reported. Age-wise prevalence was noted as the students aged 11 to 13 years were highly infected at 57.4 %, followed by 8 to 10 years at 48.8 %, while the least prevalence was noted in the age 5 to 7 years at 45.5 %. (P>0.005 at 95 % CI). Regarding the association of intestinal parasitic infection and nutritional status of the students, 53.0 % had 10 to 11 inches in diameter upper arm circumference, and 49.4 % had 8 to 9 inches in upper arm circumference (P>0.05). Information on the students’ locality and intestinal parasitic infection shows that students in rural areas were more infected, 54.1 %, compared to urban areas, 41.1 % (P value is 0.023 at 95 % CI). Based on the pattern of infection, 19.44 % (n=70/360) were single, 10.5 % (n=38/360) double, 6.11 % (n=22/360), and 2.77 % (n=10/360) quadruple infections had been recorded. The symptoms were abdominal pain, constipation, nausea or vomiting, stomach pain, blotting, and Diarrhea appearing after the taeniid infection. We conclude that since deworming is insufficient to control parasitic illnesses, there is a need for widespread campaigns to raise awareness about children’s health and hygiene, as well as the necessity for the creation of efficient poverty control programs.