The most frequent intestinal parasites in the child population of the health area of ​​San Ramón de Alajuela
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51481/amc.v43i3.65Abstract
Background and aim: Intestinal parasitosis by protozoa and helminths, remains a public health problem in many places around the globe. The present study aimes to determine the frequency of these parasitosis in children between 1 and 12 years old in San Ramón, Alajuela, Costa Rica.
Method: In this retrospective study 5250 fecal samples of children between 1 and 12 years old were studied. The sam-ples were collected and examined from December 1999 to November 2000. The samples were ordered by the treating physician, in patients whom they suspected as having intestinal parasitosis. The information was obtained from the medi-cal files of each patient.
Results: Of the 5250 cases studied 40.4% had parasites in the fecal sample. A majority of the cases corresponded to protozoa (1478 samples), and 645 samples were positive for helminths. Among the protozoa found the most frequent ones were E. histolytica, E. coli y G. intestinalis. Among the helminths E. vernicularis, S. stercoralis and H. nana were the most frequent ones. With regard to sex distribution 30.7% of the girls had parasitosis compared to 49.7% of the boys.
Conclusion: Intestinal parasitic infection remains highly frequent among the pediatric population. There has been a reduction in the frequency of helminths due to massive control campaigns. However, protozoa have emerged due to a lack of combined antiparasitic therapy in these campaigns.
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