Prevalence of Hookworm Infection in Schoolchildren with Deference Geography Areas in Indonesia

Abstract

The prevalence of hookworm infection is a serious public health concern globally. Java Island and Kalimantan Island have differential environmental risk factors for hookworm infection, especially rural areas of Indonesia have high-risk environmental factors for the prevalence of hookworm infection. This study showed the infection rates and correlation analysis between environmental risk factors and the prevalence of hookworm infection with statistical analysis. We performed a cross-sectional study among 226 schoolchildren participants from rural areas of East Java Province, Central Java Province, and East Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. This study used two diagnostic methods: Kato Katz and Koga agar plate culture/KAP culture for diagnosing hookworm infections. Pearson chi-square analysis was used to study the correlation between environmental factors and hookworm infection. This study found the prevalence of hookworms in East Java Province 69(97.2%), Central Java Province 20(41.7%), and East Kalimantan Province 48(44.9%). Environmental risk factors, such as: rainy season, quality of soil, and infection hookworm in pets have a significant correlation (pvalue < 0.05) with hookworm infection. The prevalence of hookworm infection correlates with environmental factors, and the findings in this research could contribute to decreasing programs of hookworm infection especially in rural community areas.