{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,18]],"date-time":"2026-02-18T22:59:39Z","timestamp":1771455579002,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Journal of Infection in Developing Countries","issue":"06","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,30]],"date-time":"2023-06-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1688083200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J Infect Dev Ctries"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Introduction: Intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) are a major medical and public health problem, especially in developing countries. This study aimed at comparing the prevalence and types of IPI during pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemics, and with data reported in Lebanon a decade ago.\nMethodology: Stool specimen results from a total of 4,451 and 4,158 patients were examined using the concentration method during the pre-covid (2017-2018) and post-covid (2020-2021) pandemic periods, respectively. Demographic information related to patient\u2019s age and gender was recorded.\nResults: The overall positive detected parasites among the total tested in these two periods were 589 (13.2%) and 310 (7.5%), respectively. The protozoa accounted for most parasites (e.g., Blastocystis hominis, Entamoeba coli (E. coli), Entamoeba histolytica, and Giardia lamblia). Only B. hominis and E. coli showed significant differences; B. hominis was more prevalent in the post-covid period (33.5%) whereas E. coli in the pre-covid phase (44.5%). Among gender, E. histolytica was higher in males during the post-covid period (13.3% vs. 6.3%). Regarding age, adults (between 26 and 55 years) had the highest prevalence, with a noticeable decrease among the elderly in the post-covid time. Compared to the previous decade, the prevalence of B. hominis and E. coli remained higher, and that of E. histolytica and G. lamblia was almost the same.\nConclusions: These findings indicate an overall reduction in the prevalence of IPI during the post-covid period, though IPIs persistence remains high. This highlights the need for enhancing public health awareness efforts to improve hygiene and sanitation to reduce parasitic prevalence in Lebanon.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3855\/jidc.17495","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,4]],"date-time":"2023-07-04T17:56:04Z","timestamp":1688493364000},"page":"826-831","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Prevalence of intestinal parasites during pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic at a tertiary care center in Lebanon"],"prefix":"10.3855","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Hani","family":"El Achkar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lina","family":"Ghandour","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sarah","family":"Farran","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"George F","family":"Araj","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"2222","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,30]]},"container-title":["The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.jidc.org\/index.php\/journal\/article\/download\/17495\/3108","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.jidc.org\/index.php\/journal\/article\/download\/17495\/3108","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,4]],"date-time":"2023-07-04T17:56:04Z","timestamp":1688493364000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.jidc.org\/index.php\/journal\/article\/view\/17495"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,30]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"06","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,30]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3855\/jidc.17495","relation":{},"ISSN":["1972-2680"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1972-2680","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,30]]}}}