Prevalence and Risk Factors of Soil-Transmitted Helminths among School Children at Goro Primary School, South West Shewa, Ethiopia

Soil-Transmitted Helminths (STHs), also known as Geohelminthes, are human parasitic nematodes thatneed soil contact for their egg development and become infectious. Soil-transmitted helminths are widespread in developing countries. In Ethiopia, the prevalence of STHs varies in different parts of the country. However, the prevalence of STHs infection in the present study area was not studied yet. The objective of this study was, therefore, to determine the prevalence of STH infections and associated risk factors among school children at Goro PrimarySchoolfromApril to June 2019. A cross-sectional study design was employed. Direct wet mount and formol- ether concentration techniques were utilized to detect the STHs in stool samples. The stool samples were collected from all study subjects with labeled, clean and leak-proof stool cup. Then the stool samples were examined immediately. Moreover, community and individual-level risk factors associated with STHs infection were assessed using a semi-structured questionnaire.Accordingly, the overall prevalence of soil-transmitted helminths infections observedin the collected fecal sample was 15.8% (n=61/387) and the most abundant STH parasite washookworms (n=35/61, 57.4%) followed byAscarislumbricoides(n=22/61, 36.06%) and double infection (n=4/61, 6.5%).Factors independently associated with soil-transmitted helminth infections were being illiterate (AOR= 2.3, 95% CI: 1.1-4.8, P= 0.021), lack of habit of wearing shoes (AOR= 4.1, 95% CI:2.0-8.5, P<0.001), lack of frequent hand washing before meal (AOR= 2.3, 95% CI:1.2-4.5, P= 0.019), use of unprotected drinking water (AOR= 39, CI:3.9-393, P= 0.002), and presence of dirt in fingernails (AOR= 3.5, 95% CI:1.8-6.9, P<0.001) were significantly associated with infection of STHs is (P<0.05). In linewith World Health Organization (WHO) classification,STH infection observed in the study area classified into the low-risk area group calling for none or case-by-case treatment. Thus, enhancing awareness of the community in the study area on how to keep personal hygiene and environmental sanitationis quite important to keep the burden on a controllable level.