Abstract
A total of 224 Bhil tribal individuals (115 males and 109 females) of different age groups inhabiting tribal rural areas of Udaipur district of Rajasthan, India were investigated for the prevalence of intestinal parasitic (protozoan and helminths) infections. Fresh stool samples of these tribal subjects were examined microscopically by direct wet smear with saline and 1 % Lugol's iodine and formaline ether concentration. Of these 116 (51.78 %) were found to be infected with diverse species of intestinal parasites. Male individuals showed relatively higher (56.52 %) prevalence of infection as compared to their counterparts (46.78 %). Out of 116 infected tribal subjects, 53 (23.66 %), 33 (14.73 %) and 30 (13.39 %) were infected with protozoan, helminths and mixed (protozoan + helminths) parasitic infections, respectively. Maximum number of parasitic infections occurred in the age group of 6-10 years (69.23 %) in both sexes. Among the intestinal parasites, Entamoeba histolytica was the commonest (14.73 %) followed by Entamoeba coli (8.92 %), Taenia solium (5.35 %), Ascaris lumbricoides (4.46 %), Hymenolepis nana (2.23 %), Ancylostoma duodenale (0.89 %), Strongyloides stercoralis (0.89 %), Trichuris trichiura (0.44 %) and Hymenolepis diminuta (0.44 %). Data pertaining to distribution of parasite species in different age groups, and variation in prevalence of their infection in relation to age and sex were also analysed statistically and found to be significant. Possible causes for variation in prevalence of protozoan and helminthic infection are discussed.