Prevalence of Enterobius vermicularis Among Children in Kindergartens and Primary Schools in Iran: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

ObjectiveEnterobius vermicularis is a parasite that is common in crowded areas such as schools and kindergartens. According to the primary investigations of electronic evidence, various studies have been conducted reporting different prevalences of E. vermicularis in Iran. Therefore, we aimed to estimate the total prevalence of this infection among Iranian children using meta-analysis.MethodsSearching national and international databases, relevant studies were identified. We selected eligible papers for meta-analysis after investigating titles, abstracts, full texts, and quality assessment of the articles and also applying inclusion/exclusion criteria. Data extraction was carried out by two independent researchers. Combining the results was performed based on random effects model using Stata V. 11 software.ResultsAmong 19 eligible articles including 11,676 participants, prevalence of E. vermicularis among all children, boys, and girls ranged 1.2–66.1%, 2.3–65.5%, and 1.7–65.5%, respectively. Pooled prevalences (95% confidence interval) of E. vermicularis among all children, boys, and girls were estimated as 17.2% (12.6–21.8%), 17.2% (12.6– 21.8%), and 16.9% (9.03–24.8%), respectively.ConclusionThis meta-analysis showed that a great majority of Iranian children are infected with E. vermicularis, which can be due to poor public health