{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,9]],"date-time":"2026-10-09T15:28:48Z","timestamp":1791559728634,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,29]],"date-time":"2021-09-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1632873600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100006261","name":"Taif University","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["TURSP-2020\/138"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TURSP-2020\/138"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100006261","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) are among the major public health problems globally, particularly in developing countries like Egypt. This study aimed to evaluate prevalence and risk factors associated with IPIs among preschool and school children in Egypt. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 996 randomly selected preschool and school-aged children in Gharbia governorate during January to April 2018. Stool specimens were examined for the presence of the parasite by direct smear and the formol-ether concentration methods. The overall prevalence of IPIs was 46.2%.<jats:italic>Entamoeba histolytica<\/jats:italic>and<jats:italic>Ascaris lumbricoides<\/jats:italic>were the most predominant parasites (12.7% per each). This is followed by<jats:italic>Enterobius vermicularis<\/jats:italic>(8.6%),<jats:italic>Giardia lamblia<\/jats:italic>(7.1%),<jats:italic>Cryptosporidium parvum<\/jats:italic>(1.5%),<jats:italic>Heterophyes heterophyes<\/jats:italic>(1.4%),<jats:italic>Hymenolepis nana<\/jats:italic>(0.7%), Hookworms (0.6%),<jats:italic>Fasciola hepatica<\/jats:italic>(0.5%) and<jats:italic>Dipylidium caninum<\/jats:italic>(0.4%). Infected children with no symptoms (26.8%) were significantly (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>&lt; 0.001) more frequent than those with medical complaint (19.4%). Socio-demographic predictors of IPIs were preschool age (OR = 4.9;<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>&lt; 0.001; 95%CI 3.3\u20137.3), living in rural dwellings (OR = 1.96;<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>&lt; 0.001; 95%CI 1.5\u20132.5), and belonging to a low-income family (OR = 4.7;<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>&lt; 0.001; 95%CI 2.3\u20139.3). The absence of safe drinking water, lack of hand washing (after soil contact, or before meals, or after toilet usage), and eating unwashed vegetables were risk factors for IPIs in the study region (OR = 1.3\u20136.9,<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>&lt; 0.001 \u2013<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>= 0.05). Higher odds for exposure to potential zoonotic parasites were evident in children with pets in their homes for<jats:italic>G<\/jats:italic>.<jats:italic>lambia<\/jats:italic>and<jats:italic>D<\/jats:italic>.<jats:italic>caninum<\/jats:italic>(OR = 2.1\u20138.3;<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>= 0.02 \u2013<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>= 0.04), children having household reared ruminants for<jats:italic>C<\/jats:italic>.<jats:italic>parvum<\/jats:italic>(OR = 10.4;<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>&lt; 0.001), and children that play with stray animals for<jats:italic>E<\/jats:italic>.<jats:italic>histolytica<\/jats:italic>and Hookworm (OR = 1.8\u20136.3;<jats:italic>P =<\/jats:italic>0.04 \u2013<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>= 0.05)compared to other children with no animal contact. The present study highlights the importance of periodic screening and treatment of IPIs in children, deworming companion animals, and public education for effective prevention of IPIs in children in Egypt.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0258037","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,29]],"date-time":"2021-09-29T18:47:57Z","timestamp":1632941277000},"page":"e0258037","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":48,"title":["Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections and their associated risk factors among preschool and school children in Egypt"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Walid","family":"Elmonir","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Haitham","family":"Elaadli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anan","family":"Amer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hammed","family":"El-Sharkawy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mohamed","family":"Bessat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9025-7306","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Samy F.","family":"Mahmoud","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2722-2466","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Mustafa Shukry","family":"Atta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wael F.","family":"El-Tras","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,29]]},"reference":[{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0258037.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"219","DOI":"10.1586\/eri.09.119","article-title":"Epidemiology and control of human gastrointestinal parasites in children","volume":"8","author":"MO Harhay","year":"2010","journal-title":"Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0258037.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"49","DOI":"10.1186\/s40249-015-0081-x","article-title":"Intestinal parasitic infections among children under five years of age presenting with diarrhoeal diseases to two public health facilities in Hawassa, South Ethiopia","volume":"4","author":"G 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