nutritional status, intestinal parasite infection and allergy among school children in northwest ethiopia营养状况,肠道寄生虫感染和过敏埃塞俄比亚西北部在校的孩子.pdfVIP

Amare et al. BMC Pediatrics 2013, 13:7 /1471-2431/13/7 RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Nutritional status, intestinal parasite infection and allergy among school children in Northwest Ethiopia 1* 2 2 2 2 2 Bemnet Amare , Jemal Ali , Beyene Moges , Gizachew Yismaw , Yeshambel Belyhun , Simon Gebretsadik , 2 2 2 2 3 Desalegn Woldeyohannes , Ketema Tafess , Ebba Abate , Mengistu Endris , Desalegn Tegabu , Andargachew Mulu2 4 3 2 , Fusao Ota , Bereket Fantahun and Afework Kassu Abstract Background: Parasitic infections have been shown to have deleterious effects on host nutritional status. In addition, although helmintic infection can modulate the host inflammatory response directed against the parasite, a causal association between helminths and allergy remains uncertain. The present study was therefore designed to evaluate the relationship between nutritional status, parasite infection and prevalence of allergy among school children. Methods: A cross sectional study was performed involving school children in two elementary schools in Gondar, Ethiopia. Nutritional status of these children was determined using anthropometric parameters (weight-for-age, height-for-age and BMI-for-age). Epi-Info software was used to calculate z-scores. Stool samples were examined using standard parasitological procedures. The serum IgE levels were quantified by total IgE ELISA kit following the manufacturer’s instruction. Result: A total of 405 children (with mean age of 12.09.1 ± 2.54 years) completed