ThisstudyevaluatedthedegreeofparasiticcontaminationofvegetableswhicharecommercializedandconsumedfreshinBenha, Egypt. It included 530 vegetables: lettuce, watercress, parsley, green onion, and leek. Vegetables were collected randomly from marketswithinBenha.Sampleswerewashedinsaline,andtheresultingwashingsolutionwasfilteredandcentrifugedtoconcentrate theparasiticstages.SedimentsandsupernatantswereexaminedbyiodineandmodifiedZiehl-Neelsenstainedsmears.Intestinal parasites were detected in 157/530 (29.6%) samples. Giardia lamblia cysts were the most prevalent parasite (8.8%) followed by Entamoebaspp.cysts(6.8%),Enterobiusvermiculariseggs(4.9%),varioushelminthlarvae(3.6%),Hymenolepisnanaeggs(2.8%), Hymenolepisdiminutaeggs(2.1%),andAscarislumbricoideseggs(0.6%).Thehighestcontaminatedvegetablewaslettuce(45.5%) followedbywatercress(41.3%),parsley(34.3%),greenonion(16.5%),andleek(10.7%).Theseresultsindicateasignificantseasonal variation( |
