Target Population, Targeted Health Education: A Case-Based Reasoning Proposed for the Control of Human Hydatidosis

Cystic echinococcosis (CE), caused by Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato, is a common zoonotic disease in Iran. Identifying various risk factors of this disease can pave the way for launching control and prevention programs, as well as special health education for target populations. For this purpose, this retrospective study investigated the demographic characteristics and risk factors of human hydatidosis in Hamedan.

The registered demographic characteristics of 98 patients, the risk factors of echinococcosis transmission, and the involved organs were analyzed through the profile form of patients who underwent CE surgery in two main hospitals of Hamedan province during 2014-2018. Data were analyzed using the chi-square test (or Fisher’s exact test), independent t-test, and one-way analysis of variance with Stata 16 software at a significance level of α≥0.05.

Forty-eight (48.97%) and 50 (51.02%) cases of the 98 registered CE surgeries were females and males, respectively. The age range of the patients was 8-91 years, with the significantly highest rate in 21-30 years old (23.46%, P<0.05). In addition, 77.78% of urban residents reported contact with contaminated vegetables vs. 58.49% of infected rural reported contact with contaminated vegetables and/ or dogs (P<0.05). The prevalence of infection merely in the liver (60.20%) was significantly higher than in the other organs (P<0.05).

According to the results, it seems that the targeted health education should be focused on people in their third decade of life and younger. Further, the education of urban residents should be focused more on the health of vegetables and villagers based on the simultaneous explanation of the dangers of contaminated vegetables and dogs.