A study of parasitic infections and evaluation of the nutritional status and level of (IFN-ˠ (ng /l), IL-2 (pg /ml), and) IL-10 (pg /ml), at children in Al-Hussein Teaching Hospital
The current study included a survey of intestinal parasites causing diarrhea among children arriving to Al-Hussein Hospital in the city of Diwaniyah, and evaluated the levels of IFN-ˠ (ng /l), IL-2 (pg /ml), and) IL-10 (pg /ml), and their nutritional status over a period of 6 months, starting from October to March (10/1/2021 - 3/1/2022). The results showed that the numbers of infected samples reached to 320, while the numbers of non-infected people were 580. Compared to children in cities, children in rural areas had a higher infection rate. Giardia lamblia is the most widespread of the parasites under study, while the lowest infection rate was recorded in this study is H.nana , and this may be due to the fact that this worm needs an intermediate host in its life cycle. As for the effect of some blood indicators of the infected children, it was found that the hemoglobin percentage and BMI in the infected children decreased compared to the control group, and the parasitic infection did not affect the weight and height of the infected children. There is also an increase in the levels of (IFN-ˠ (ng /l), IL-2 (pg /ml), and) IL-10 (pg /ml), in infected children compared to the control group.