Introduction: There is a higher incidence of parasitic infestation in the developing countries due to the use of contaminated drinking water, inadequate sanitary conditions and poor personal hygiene and it is the common cause of morbidity in our country. Hence the governmental authorities have begun an anthelmintic chemoprophylaxis programme twice a year. The objectives of our study were (a) frequency of ova/ cyst positive in stool test of school children and (b) quantifying factors enhancing parasitic infections

Subjects and methods: A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted on 280 school children from 3rd to 7th standards. Students were assembled, questionnaires filled, examined, and specimen bottles were given with appropriate instructions. The next day bottles were collected to be analysed in the microbiology laboratory, Father Muller Medical College. The assessment was done before the next dose of chemoprophylaxis.

Results: In our study, 280 school children were examined for helminthic infections and 23% showed positive stool report.The stool report showed positivity for Ascaris lumbricoides, Hymenolepis nana, Enterobious vermicularis, Trichuris trichura and Entamoeba histolytica. 30% of children without footwear and 26.8% of those with anal pruritis had stool report positive. Those with pica and nail biting showed 20% and 21.6% stool positivity, respectively. About 22% with history of passage of worms and 24.2% with pain abdomen had reported with stool positive for helminthes.

Conclusion: In the present study of 280 school children who have received anthelmintic chemoprophylaxis showed stool positivity rates that are low. The significance should not be lost as the contributory factors have been quantified that can have a bearing to make the statistics even better