Table 2.
Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections by parasite species and number of infections among Orang Asli and Malay in Terengganu (n = 340)
| Infections | Orang Asli n (%) | Malay n (%) | Overall n (%) | χ 2 | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall infections | 149 (90.3) | 43 (24.6) | 192 (56.5) | 149.275 | < 0.001* |
| Parasite species | |||||
| Trichuris trichiura | 130 (78.8) | 17 (9.7) | 147 (43.2) | 165.101 | < 0.001* |
| Ascaris lumbricoides | 89 (53.9) | 6 (3.4) | 95 (27.9) | 107.617 | < 0.001* |
| Hookworm | 39 (23.6) | 1 (0.6) | 40 (11.8) | 43.524 | < 0.001* |
| Giardia duodenalis | 24 (14.5) | 15 (8.6) | 39 (11.5) | 2.985 | 0.084 |
| Entamoeba spp. | 24 (14.5) | 14 (8.0) | 38 (11.2) | 3.665 | 0.056 |
| Cryptosporidium spp. | 7 (4.2) | 4 (2.3) | 11 (3.2) | 1.039 | 0.308 |
| Blastocystis sp. | 57 (34.5) | 31 (17.7) | 88 (25.9) | 12.541 | < 0.001* |
| Type of infection (n = 192)a | |||||
| Monoparasitism | 35 (23.5) | 18 (41.9) | 50 (26.6) | – | – |
| Polyparasitism | 113 (75.8) | 25 (58.1) | 138 (71.9) | 6.654 | 0.010* |
| No. and type of polyparasitism (n = 138)b | |||||
| Two parasite species | 39 (34.5) | 8 (32.0) | 47 (34.1) | 0.058 | 0.810 |
| Three parasite species | 43 (38.1) | 14 (56.0) | 57 (41.3) | 2.720 | 0.099 |
| Four parasite species | 27 (23.9) | 3 (12.0) | 30 (21.7) | 1.702 | 0.192 |
| Five parasite species | 4 (3.5) | 0 (0) | 4 (2.9) | 0.911 | 0.340 |
Abbreviations: χ 2 Chi-square test statistic
*Significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05)
a n = 192, children who were infected with at least one parasite species
b n = 138, children who were infected with two or more parasite species