Abstract
The current study was aimed to find the frequency of human intestinal parasites in Karachi hospitals and medical centres and to know as to which age group was most prone to infection. The patients having gastrointestinal symptoms which included diarrhea and dysentery visiting five different hospitals were sampled for protozoan and helminth parasites. Slides were microscopically examined for identification of trophozoite, cyst, egg, larva and worms. Data analysis were made using version SPSS 21. Out of 2212 samples 274 (12.4%) were positive. The most prevalent protozoan was Entamoeba histolytica (66.1%) followed by Giardia lamblia (22.3%), Ascaris lumbricoides (5.5%), Blastocystis hominis (1.8%), Hymenolepis nana (1.8%), Entamoeba coli (1.1%), Iodamoeba butschlii (0.7%), Ancylostoma duodenale (0.4%) and Taenia saginata (0.4%). Children and teenagers (twenty or < 20 years) were the most infected.
