Abstract
The present study was aimed to determine the prevalence of blood and intestinal parasites of patients attending some hospitals in Jazan region. Blood samples of 6188 patients attending 5 hospitals of Jazan region (Jazan, Sabia, Samtah, Abu-Areish and King Fahd hospitals) were collected and examined for malaria parasites at the period from January to December 2013. Out of these samples, 300 blood specimens were found infected with Plasmodium spp. with an annual prevalence of 4.85 %. Out of 300 positive samples, 298 samples were found positive for P. falciparum with a rate of 99.3% of total infected patients, while only two samples were found positive for Plasmodium vivax with a rate of 0.7% of total positive samples. The prevalence of malaria was high in winter and low in summer. The high prevalence of malaria in Jazan region, comparable with other regions in Saudi Arabia was discussed in detail. Also, stool samples of 3343 patients attending 5 hospitals in Jazan region were collected and examined for intestinal parasites. Out of these samples, 59 samples were found positive for intestinal parasites with an annual prevalence of 1.76%. Twenty two samples were found positive for Giardia Lambelia with a rate of 39.29% of total positive samples followed by 16 positive samples of Entamoeba coli with a rate of 28.57%, fourteen positive samples of Entamoeba histolytica with a rate of 25% and 7 positive samples of Ascaris lumbercoides which recorded the lowest value with a rate of 7.14 % of total positive samples.