Intestinal parasites and haemoglobin concentrations in pregnant women attending Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital, Port Harcourt
Abstract
This study was carried out between January to June, 2014 at Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital, Port Harcourt to determine the haemoglobin level and intestinal parasites in pregnant women attending antenatal clinic of the hospital. In total, 200 stool and blood samples were collected from the women. The stool samples were examined using direct wet preparation and formol ether concentration technique while the haemoglobin levels of the women were estimated using cyanmethaeoglobin technique. The overall prevalence of E. histolytical, A. Lumbricoides, Hookworm Spp, and T. trichuria was 8(4.00), 58(29.00), 8(4.00) and 8(4.00) respectively. The proportion of pregnant women with helminithic infestation was 60 (30.0%) while their mean Heamoglobin concentration was 10.85+0.32g/dl while the pregnant women without helminthic infestation (140(70.0%) had Heamoglobin concentration of 11.03+0.16g/dl (P<0.05). The study has shown that pregnant women with intestinal parasites had low haemoglobin level. This may be attributed to poor socioeconomic status of the women coupled with poor environmental sanitation and lack of clean portable water supply may have contributed to the high prevalence.
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