Prevalence of Entamoeba Histolytica in Iranian Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Abstract

Background:

Parasitic infections in children are one of the most important health and health problems worldwide, especially in developing countries. Diarrheal diseases such as those caused by Entamoeba histolytica are among the causes of death in children, so the purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to determine the prevalence of Entamoeba histolytica in Iranian children.

Materials and Methods:

This study is a systematic review and meta-analysis by examining the Scientific Information Database (SID), Medline (PubMed), Scopus and Google Scholar until March 2023.

Results:

In a review of 12 studies with a sample size of 10,982 Iranian children, the prevalence of Entamoeba Histolytica in Iranian children was reported to be 1% (95% CI 0.6-1.7%). The meta-regression results showed that in examining the factors influencing the heterogeneity of studies and examining the effect of sample size on this heterogeneity, it was reported that with increasing sample size, the prevalence of Entamoeba Histolytica in Iranian children decreased (P<0.05) and also with the increase in the year of conducting studies, the prevalence decreases in Iranian children (P=0.289).

Conclusion:

The results of the present study show that the prevalence of Entamoeba Histolytica in Iranian children is not at a very high level, but to continue preventive measures and reach lower levels, it still requires the attention of health policymakers in this area to carry out extensive information and screening to prevent the effects of this parasitic disease on children.