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Parasitological Examination Of Some Ready To Eat Fruits Sold At Oye Emene Enugu State Nigeria
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Simple fruit can be either dry or fresh, Example carrot, wheat, tomato, avocado, banana etc.(Schelegel,2002).
The
examples of an aggregate fruits are pineapple, bread fruit, etc. some
fruits have coat covered with Spikes or hooked burrs, either to prevent
themselves from being eaten by animals, using them as dispersal agent.
eg. unicorn plant (Heiser and Charles 2003). Many fruits are used to
make beverages, such as fruit juice, (orange juice, apple juice, grape
juice
etc).or alcoholic beverages, such as wine or brandy. Apples are
often used to make vinegar. Mcgee (2004) fruits are contaminated with
parasites and some parasite infections which have direct life cycle and
do not need an intermediate host to infect a new host are via
feacal-orally transmitted parasites. Infections acquired through direct
ingestion of infective egg or cyst is intimately linked with level of
personal hygiene and sanitation in the community. Factors like the lack
of latrine and adequate sewage disposal facilities have been known to
contribute to the spread of the infective states of the parasites
thereby bringing about a wide spread contamination of foods. Infection
can be acquired through contaminated unwashed fingers, insects,
circulation of currency and by wind during dry season. Contamination of
fruits with eggs and cyst especially those hawked by fruit vendors may
also serve as a source of infection to consumers of such fruits items.
These parasites includes: entamoeba histolystica, Giardia duodenace,
Trichuris trichura, Ascaris Lumbricoides and Benterobius vermiculais.
(World Health Organization [WHO],2000).
Amoebiasis is known to cause
about 450 million infections per annum in developing countries with an
incidence of about 50 million and 100,000 deaths. Giardiais is more
common in children and has a world wide prevalence of about 1-30% (Wov
and Paterson, 1986). Ascaris is the commonest nematodes of man
especially in tropical Africa with a prevalence of about 40% in Enugu
State
(Reonthalaer, 1988). And may be as high as 96-100% in the rural
community in Enugu State.The resistance capacity of the eggs and cyst
of these parasites is a feature of profound influence on the
epidemiology.
Eggs of Ascaris can remain viable for up to six years.
(Njom,2002). Many people who eat fresh fruit as part of an overall
health diet are likely to have reduced risk of some chronic diseases.
Eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables reduce risk for stroke,
diabetes, certain cancers such as (mouth), heart, diseases, developing
kidney stone, and decreases bone loss.
Fruit reduces the risk of neural tube defects, spina bifida and anecephaly during fetal development
(Ayer,
2001). Fruits are very important in human consumption especially health
wise. Parasites that affect fruits need to be controlled in a proper
process in order not to affect those that are of medially important. The
major way of selecting the appropriate intervention stops to reduce
population to pathogenic microorganism on fruits is to identify sources
of contamination and ecology of the pathogens as it is affected by
processing practices. Organism like; Samonella, cryptosproridium,
cyclospora, Giardia, are among the disease causing organisms that have
been transferred via fresh fruits (Sushow, 1997).The use of disinfectant
like chlorine, in wash water can also help to prevent both host harvest
disease and food borne illnesses.
The evaluation of these medically
important parasites found in fruits will depend on the knowledge of the
factors contributing to the spread of such parasites including the
activities of fruit vendors at Orie emene market and then affect on the
distribution of these parasites.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
1. To determine the parasite of medical importance in fruit sold at Orie Emene market in Enugu State.
2.
To determine whether washing of fruits with untreated water eliminates
the parasites of medical importance (pathogenic parasites) from them.
3. To determine whether fruits are safe to be eaten without washing them as some people do.
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]Some locally available fruits (garden egg, orange, banana, guava, avocado, pawpaw and pineapple).sold in Oye Emene Enugu, Enugu State was examined for parasitological contamination. A total of 87 samples were examined using sedimentation and concentration methods. 11(12.6%) of the 87 fruits were positive for intestinal parasites microscopically. Among these fruits, guava had the highest number of intestinal parasites which was 6 (35.3% positive and the lowest was banana 2(8%). Parasite implicate ... Continue reading---
