Enteroparasitic occurrence in stools from residents in Southwestern region of Saudi Arabia before and during Umrah season.

Objective: Study of the prevalence of human gastro-intestinal parasitic infections among patients living in Makkah Al-Mukkarmah city before and during Umrah season.

Methods: One hundred eighty three stool samples were collected from patients living in Makkah, between the months of March and November 2005. Eighty were collected before the Umrah season began and 103 were collected during the Umrah season. Age, sex, and address were also recorded. Samples were preserved in 10% formol saline. They were examined using the direct smear technique and the formol ether concentration method.

Results: The results suggest a higher prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections (70.5%) among the patients under study. Entamoeba histolytica/E. dispar and Giardia lamblia were found to be the most common intestinal parasites among patients before and during Umrah. The infection rate was higher in the under 30 age group (74.8%) and in persons living away from the Holy Masjid (77.7%). The prevalence of intestinal parasitoses during Umrah (73.8%) was higher than that before Umrah (66.3%).

Conclusion: The present study suggests that the group of people may underline the significant increase in the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections during Umrah season. This highly significant increase of parasitic infection rate (p=0.018) was elicited when results were compared by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The present data were discussed with previous studies.