International Journal of Health Sciences & Research (www.ijhsr.org) 154 Vol.6; Issue: 1; January 2016 International Journal of Health Sciences and Research www.ijhsr.org ISSN: 2249-9571 Original Research Article Parasitic Infection: A Prevalence Study at a Tertiary Care Hospital Anil Kumar 1 , Deepesh Kumar 2 , Sujeet Kumar 3 1 Associate Professor, 2 Research Scientist, VRDL, 3 Technical Officer, SRL (NACO), Dept. of Microbiology, LLRM Medical College, Meerut, UP Corresponding Author: Anil Kumar Received: 20/11/2015 Revised: 09/12/2015 Accepted: 10/12/2015 ABSTRACT Background: Intestinal parasitic infection has been described as constituting the greatest single worldwide cause of illness and disease. Aims: The aim of this study is to get a Current status about the existence of Parasites and their prevalence in our area. Material and Methods: A total of 1638 stool samples were examined for protozoa and helminthes infection by routine microscopy. Results: In the study, prevalence of Intestinal parasitic infection is 9.21 %. There are eight different type of parasite detected. Conclusion: Protozoan infection is more common than helminthic infection. It is an important public health problem. So it is need to develop effective diagnostic, prevention and control strategies including health education and environmental hygiene. Keywords: Prevalence, Parasitic infection, a retrospective study. INTRODUCTION Intestinal parasitic infection is one of the major health problems in several developing countries, including India. The world health organization (WHO) estimates that there are 800-1000 million cases of ascariasis,700-900 million hookworm infection, 500 million trichuris, 200 million giardiasis, and 500 million amoebiasis. (1) In general, the prevalence of parasitic diseases is an indication of environmental conditions. Intestinal protozoan and helminthes are widely prevalent and causing considerable medical and public health problems in developing countries. (2) Most of the people are illiterate belonging to socio- economic class and lack of awareness about importance of sanitation, personal and environmental hygiene with respect to health. (3) The intestinal parasitic infection is acquired by ingestion, inhalation or penetration of skin by infective forms and their high incidence is closely correlated to poverty and poor environmental hygiene. (3) The purpose of this study is to get a Current status about the existence of intestinal parasites and their prevalence at our place. MATERIALS AND METHODS Specimen collection: A retrospective study was carried out at the clinical microbiology laboratory, LLRM Medical College Meerut. A total of 1638 patient’s symptoms were suggestive of parasitic infection, coming to our hospital for stool examination by routine microscopy. The patients were provided wide mouthed