Prevalence of Enterobius vermicularis infection and preventive effects of mass treatment among children in rural and urban areas, and children in orphanages

Abstract

An epidemiological study and mass treatments of Enterobius vermicularis infection among children near Wonju area of Kangwon province were carried out. The children were divided into 4 groups according to their residing localities; children in the mountainous area, rural area, urban area and in orphanage. They were examined by adhesive cellotape anal swab technique, and egg positive rates were obtained. The rates of egg reduction and re-infection rates after repeated mass treatments were also observed. The results obtained were as follows: 1. The overall egg positive rate of E. vermicularis in the first screening was 19.9% (251 out of 1,262 examinees; 19.7% in males and 20.1% in females). The positive rates were 13.0% in the mountainous area, 11.9% in the rural area, 15.1% in the urban (medium-sized) area and 61.9% in orphanages. 2. The highest positive rates were observed in the kindergarten children, and 1st and 2nd grade children of primary schools (26.2-32.2%), and the lowest rate (13.6%) in 6-year grade children of primary schools. 3. Cumulative detection rates from 3 repeated anal swabs at 4-5 days interval were higher (70.8%) than those from single anal swabs (50.0-59.2%). 4. Out of the examinees who showed the highest cumulative positive rate (70.8%), about 39.2% were consecutively positive in 3 anal swabs. Among different groups of children, the higher the total egg detection rates (87.5%), the higher the consecutive positive rates (71.9%). 5. A total of 2,609 (male: female = 1:12.4) worms were collected from 17 egg-positive cases treated with anthelmintics. The mean number of worms per child was 153 (range: 4-824).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

A survey of Enterobius vermicularis infection among children on western and southern coastal islands of the Republic of Korea

“…18.5%) of E. vermicularis infection among children attending kindergartens and primary schools on the western and southern islands of the Republic of Korea. This prevalence is higher than those reported by other workers (7.8-17.5%) since 1991 in the Republic of Korea (Kim et al, 1991;Yang et al, 1997;Lee et al, 2000;Yoon et al, 2000, and is remarkably higher than the national fig It is of note that the detection of E. vermicularis eggs from the peri-anal region means the termination of parasitism by the adult worms that produced these eggs (Akagi, 1973;Cho and Kang, 1975), and that such a finding does not necessarily mean that further worms are present in the intestine. Nevertheless, egg detection from the perianal region is significant, because egg positivity indicates a high probability of infection in the intestine (Cho and Kang, 1975).…”

Comparison of Egg Positive Rates ofEnterobius vermicularisamong Preschool Children in Three Korean Localities

“…Of the 7,048 children examined, 4.0% were found to be positive for E. vermicularis eggs; this value was lower compared to the EPR observed in other cities such as 7.9% in Cheongju [8], 10.7% in Busan [10], and 28.4% in Wonju-si [11]. Analysis by region revealed that the EPR was the highest in Chuncheon-si (5.7%), followed by Inje-gun (4.6%) and Paju-si (3.5%) (Table 1).…”

Enterobius vermicularis egg positive rate in a primary school in Chungchongnam-do (Province) in Korea

“…Routine stool examination methods, such as formalin-ether concentration method and cellophane thick smear, showed that the E. vermicularis infection rate to be 0.1% among the inhabitants in the upper stream of Kumgang (River) and 0.02% among the patients who had visited Seoul Paik Hosptial (Kim et al, 1994;Lee et al, 1994 (Kim et al, 1991). Since the life cycle of the parasite and children's habits affect the control of E. vermicularis, a strict control or extermination of enterobiasis is difficult.…”