Intestinal Parasites Infection Prevalence in Children Under-Five Years Living in a Peri-Urban Area of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Background: Intestinal parasitic infections are among the most common infections in humans and a major public health problem, affecting around 3.5 billion people, of whom about 450 million develop symptomatic illness and more than 200,000 die each year. Preschool- and school-age children bear much of this burden, and the impact falls disproportionately on people living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where access to health care, safe drinking water and sanitation is limited. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasites, and its variation over time and with age, in children under five years of age in a peri-urban area of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, West Africa. Methods: We followed a community-based cohort of children under five years of age in a peri-urban area of Ouagadougou, with stool examinations at enrolment (M0, December 2020-March 2021) and at 6 (M6) and 12 months (M12). The cohort was established to estimate the incidence of shigellosis before a clinical evaluation of the oral shigella vaccine candidate in Burkina Faso. Fresh stool samples were examined by direct microscopy on the day of collection. Changes in prevalence across visits were analysed with generalised estimating equations to account for repeated measurements on the same children. Results: At enrolment, 38.04% (264/694) of children carried at least one intestinal parasite, and 60.1% (440/732) were positive at least once during follow-up. Predominant parasite was Giardia intestinalis, detected in 29.09% of the 1894 stool examinations. Other parasites included Entamoeba genus; Entamoeba histolytica, Hymenolepis nana, Endolimax nana and Isospora belli. Conclusions: Intestinal parasites, mainly Giardia intestinalis, were common in this peri-urban setting, with 33.05% of all stool examinations positive. §Persistence of these parasites across the three visits points denote a permanent reservoir of asymptomatic carriers that must be addressed to interrupt transmission. These results can guide interventions to reduce childhood morbidity and to improve the management of intestinal parasitic infections.