DISTRIBUTION AND RISK FACTORS FOR GIARDIA LAMBLIA AMONG CHILDREN AT AMRAN GOVERNORATE, YEMEN

Objective: The widespread prevalence of Giardiasis is a public health problem worldwide, and it is also common among Yemeni children. Hence, this work aims to identify the prevalent Giardia lamblia infection and risk factors among children admitted to health care centers in Amran governorate in Yemen. Methods: Three hundred and thirty-four stool samples were collected from infected children between March and July 2019 and the parasite is identified by light-microscope according to standard parasitology methods. Also, relevant data was obtained using a designed questionnaire. Results: The results showed that 181 cases (54.2%) were infected with G. lamblia infection. 57.5% of the infected children were from urban areas, while 42.5% of the cases were from rural areas. The highest incidence of G. lamblia was 60.3% among males compared to 47.5% among females. The results for age, residents and male children aged 8-14 years in both urban and rural areas recorded the highest prevalence of G. lamblia infection while the lowest was among females between 1 and 7 years and 8-14 years old, respectively, in the rural and urban area. Conclusion: In conclusion, as described in this work, multisectoral efforts are needed that include hygiene practices, personal hygiene habits, the provision of safe drinking water and the provision of sanitation systems to efficiently reduce this infection from all governorates of Yemen.   Peer Review History: Received 22 May 2020; Revised 14 June; Accepted 3 July, Available online 15 July 2020 UJPR follows the most transparent and toughest ‘Advanced OPEN peer review’ system. The identity of the authors and, reviewers will be known to each other. This transparent process will help to eradicate any possible malicious/purposeful interference by any person (publishing staff, reviewer, editor, author, etc) during peer review. As a result of this unique system, all reviewers will get their due recognition and respect, once their names are published in the papers. We expect that, by publishing peer review reports with published papers, will be helpful to many authors for drafting their article according to the specifications. Auhors will remove any error of their article and they will improve their article(s) according to the previous reports displayed with published article(s). The main purpose of it is ‘to improve the quality of a candidate manuscript’. Our reviewers check the ‘strength and weakness of a manuscript honestly’. There will increase in the perfection, and transparency. Received file:      Reviewer's Comments: Average Peer review marks at initial stage: 6.0/10 Average Peer review marks at publication stage: 7.5/10 Reviewer(s) detail: Prof. Dr. Hassan A.H. Al-Shamahy, Sana'a University, Yemen, shmahe@yemen.net.ye Dr. Mahmoud S. Abdallah, University of Sadat city, Egypt, dr_samy777@yahoo.com Similar Articles: PREVALENCE OF MALOCCLUSION AMONG YEMENI CHILDREN OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS COCCIDIAN INTESTINAL PARASITES AMONG CHILDREN IN AL-TORBAH CITY IN YEMEN: IN COUNTRY WITH HIGH INCIDENCE OF MALNUTRITION OCCLUSAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRIMARY DENTITION AMONG A SAMPLE OF YEMENI PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN EVALUATION OF THE IMMUNE RESPONSE TO POLIO VACCINE IN MALNOURISHED CHILDREN IN SANA'A CITY