The study of Prevalence of Parasitic Contamination of fresh vegetables in Tehran, Iran

Introduction and Objectives: Parasitic diseases have created lots of health-economic problems in developing and developed countries. Consuming raw vegetable contaminated with parasites is regarded as one of the most prevalent ways of transmitting diseases. Regarding the importance of healthy vegetable consumption, awareness of vegetable status prevents from the infection. Therefore, the present study was investigated to determine the level of parasitic contamination of vegetables consumed in Tehran. Materials and Methods: The present descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted on the vegetable samples spread in Tehran from October 2017 to September 2018. The samples included 240 vegetables selected from10 types of vegetable including leek, basil, mint, spring onion, radish, parsley, lettuce, cress, tarragon, and coriander. Each sample was examined after passing the washing and centrifuging. Parasitic agents such as unicellular, egg and larva of the worms were studied. SPSS software was used to analyze the data. Results: Based on the findings, parasitic infection was observed in 62 of the samples (25.8%). Coriander and lettuce had the highest and lowest rate of contamination, respectively. The results indicated the Rhabditoid larva 12.5% (15 cases) and Physaloptera egg 1.6% (2 cases) as the most and the least observed parasites. Other parasites such as Entamoeba, Giardia, Blastocystis, Hymenolepis, Ascaris, and the egg and larva of the Hookworms were observed, as well. Conclusion: Despite the relative improvement of social, agricultural, economic and health conditions in Tehran, the prevalence of the parasitic infections is still observed. Factors such casusing modern waste collection methods, improving the urban sewage systems, preventing domestic animal traffic in the pasture, and promoting the relative knowledge of different classes of people could reduce the prevalence of such diseases. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

کلیدواژه ها:

Parasitic infection ، Consumed vegetables ، Tehran