Prevalence of Intestinal Parasites and Socioeconomic Evaluation of a Country Town in the Serra Gaucha Region, Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil

Abstract

Worms are a serious public health issue in Brazil, easily transmitted in school-age children.To evaluate the prevalence of intestinal parasites and socioeconomic conditions in students in Ipê city, the children's guardians filled in a questionnaire to evaluate their knowledge about parasitosis and basic sanitary conditions; then, feces were analyzed with sedimentation and centrifugation-fluctuation techniques. Out of 124 analyzed samples, a positivity rate of 8.1% was observed, with the presence of Entamoeba coli (50%), Giardia intestinalis (20%), Enterobius vermicularis eggs (20%) or multiple parasites. The students' average ages were 8.2±1.5, of which 53.2% were female. In relation to the questionnaires, 80.6% of the respondents answered assertively concerning the definition of a parasite, and 91.1% thought they knew how parasitoses are acquired. Regarding basic sanitation, only 4% of the studied population does not possess piped drinking water at home, and waste collection was done in 89.5% of the residences. The current study found a low frequency of parasitoses, which may be due to the level of information on the part of the parents or guardians, to the basic sanitary conditions of the respondents and to the high percentage (84.7%) of students who had already used anti-parasitic drugs.

Molecular characterization of Giardia lamblia and risk factors for giardiasis among immunocompromised patients in southern Brazil

“…Waste collection carried out by public services also contributed to low occurrence of G. lamblia in the population under study. This correlation was also reported by other studies (Visser et al, 2011;Zanotto et al, 2018); it may be explained by the fact that waste can contain infecting forms of parasites, such as disposable diapers and toilet paper, attract animals and insects and generate environmental pollution. It may even be related to parasitic contamination of vegetable gardens, which was another variable that exhibited relation with positive cases found in this study (p=0.02).…”

Prevalence of intestinal parasites in a clinical analysis laboratory in southern Brazil: a retrospective study

“…The prevalence of intestinal parasites found in this study, corresponding to 8.1%, was equal to another study conducted in the city of Sananduva, RS, where 8.1% (44/546) of individuals presented positive results for parasites, and the most frequent structures were E. nana and E. coli cysts, found in 44.4% and 24.4% of fecal samples respectively (Bellin & Grazziotin, 2011). Similarly, another study evidenced the same prevalence of 8.1% (10/124) in individuals from Ipê municipality, also located in RS (Zanotto et al, 2018). A lower prevalence was found in the city of Bento Gonçalves, RS, corresponding to 5.3% (96/1808), where the most prevalent parasites were E. nana, Giardia intestinalis and E. coli (Ferlito & Dalzochio, 2020).…”

Incidence of Intestinal Parasites in Government and Private School Going Children

“…Distribution of intestinal parasites based on type of hand washing material was carried out and data revealed that there were three kinds of agents used by children after using washroom. Soap and water, soil and water and only water 16 . It was found that most of the positive cases linked to children that wash their hands with only water.…”