Intestinal parasites cause one of the most important health problems through their effects in causing undernourishment morbidity and incapacitation due to their behavior particularly in children compared to adults. This study was intended to state the prevalence of intestinal parasites between the slum dwellers of different areas in south Chennai. Among the total of 256 samples collected between the ages of 0–50？yrs, 194 samples were positive. Standard laboratory techniques for parasitological diagnosis were carried out for each sample. Entamoeba coli (23%), Cyclospora sp. (22.2%), Entamoeba histolytica (21.8%), Giardia intestinalis (14.4%), Ascaris lumbricoides (6.2%), Trichuris trichiura (1.1%), and Hymenolepis nana (2.7%) were found in the dwellers of low socioeconomic areas. The data on the prevalence of parasites with respect to sex and age showed that the females harbored more numbers of parasites when compared to males. Further, with respect to age, children and teenagers had surplus parasites compared to old age groups. The percentage of educational status showed a reduction in the number of parasites in the higher education dwellers. These parasites could be prevented by possible grouping of better ecological design and hygiene. Conclusively, the examination of personal hygiene as well as routine medical examination and treatment is strongly recommended in the low socio-economic areas. 1. Introduction Intestinal parasitic diseases constitute a global health burden in numerous developing countries mainly due to fecal contamination of water and food [1], sympathetic climatic, and environmental and sociocultural factors enhancing parasitic transmissions [2, 3]. These parasites dwell in the gastrointestinal tract in humans and other animals [4]. In urbanized countries, protozoan parasites commonly cause gastrointestinal infections in contrast to helminthes [5]. Amoebiasis is the third most important reason for death from parasitic diseases wide-reaching, with its furthermost impact on the people of developing countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that approximately 50 million people worldwide endure insidious amoebic infection each year, resulting in 40–100 thousand deaths yearly [6, 7]. Current estimates suggested that Ascaris lumbricoides can infect over a billion, T. trichiura can infect 795 million, and hookworms can infect 740 million people [8]. Intestinal helminths hardly ever cause death. As an alternative, the saddle of disease is related to less mortality than to the chronic and subtle effects on health and nutritional
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