Evaluation of intestinal parasites in Patients referring to Laboratories of Health Centers Ardabil city, Ardabil province, Iran

Introduction and Objectives: Intestinal parasitic infections are one of the most important problems in north of the country. This study is aimed to determine intestinal parasites for infected Patients referring to health centers of Ardabil, Ardabil Province. Materials & methods: During Spring (first quarter) 2017, samples of feces in 5500 Patients referring to health centers around of Ardabil, collected and examined using Direct Smear And Formol-Ether Concentration Techniques for infectivity with intestinal parasites consist of eggs or larvae of the worms or cysts and oocysts protozoan. Result: Overall, 98 samples (1.78%) were infected with at least one intestinal parasite. The species and percentage were as follows: Protozoa: 75 cases Protozoan cysts (1.36%) consist of 42 cases Giardia lamblia (0.77%), 10 cases Blastocystis hominis (0.18%), 5 cases Entamoeba histolytica/dispar (0.90%) and 18 cases Entamoeba coli (0.32%). Helminthes: 23 cases Helminth ova (0.42%) consist of 5 cases Fasciola sp. (0.09%), 13 cases Enterobius vermicularis (0.24%), 1 case Ascaris lumbricoides (0.02%) and 4 cases Dicrocoelium dendriticum (0.07%).Of course, in the case of Fasciola sp.and Dicrocoelium dendriticum should be considered transient cases. In some cases, there were only vague gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal pains, diarrhea and intermittent constipation, and in most cases no symptoms have been reported. Conclusion: Due to the short time intervals and the use of direct method (without using condensation methods), the percentage of intestinal parasitic infections in Ardabil indicates a high prevalence of parasitic infections among the residents