Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• Neda Mehrnejat ¹
• Safoura Kadkhodaie ²
• Hossein Farrokhzadeh ³
• Hossein Ali Yousefi ⁴
• Hajar Pourgheysari ²
• Somayeh Seyf ²

¹ Department of Medical Geography, School of Geography, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

² Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Student Research Center, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (IUMS), Isfahan, Iran

³ Environment Research Center, Research Institute for Primordial Prevention of Non-communicable Disease, IUMS, Isfahan, Iran and Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, IUMS, Isfahan, Iran

⁴ Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

Aims: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of parasitic infection via vegetables consumed in Isfahan in 2011. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 120 samples of vegetables were collected from 12 sites in the vegetable supply of Isfahan. Then samples were washed carefully with the detergent, the solution condensed with the Sheeters flotation method and ether Ritchie method in case of detecting parasites with microscope. Statistical analysis was done with Excel and SPSS software. Results: Among the samples, 48.4% were infected with pathogenic and nonpathogenic parasite eggs and larvae, and 51.6% of samples were not infected by parasite. Among the contaminated samples, 48.1% were nonpathogenic, and Giardia with a frequency of 0.4% was the only pathogenic parasite that observed. Conclusion: The study showed that the percentage of parasites in raw vegetables was close to zero. However, the previous study in Isfahan city reported 13% contamination. The reduction in intestinal worm infections is probably the result of development of water and wastewater networks, improvement in public health and public knowledge about parasitic infections and different ways of its prevention.

Keywords

• Iran
• Isfahan
• parasitic contamination
• vegetable