Strongyloides stercoralis and other Enteroparasites in Children at Uberlândia City, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil
Vol. 93(2): 161-164
Eleuza Rodrigues Machado, Julia Maria Costa-Cruz+
Laboratório de Parasitologia, Departamento de Patologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Av. Pará 1720, 38400-902 Uberlândia, MG, Brasil
To evaluate the rate of infection by Strongyloides stercoralis and other enteroparasites a survey was conducted in the city of Uberlândia, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. A total of 900 stool samples from 300 children aging from four months to seven years, randomly selected in ten nursery schools from September 1994 to December 1995, were examined, both by the Baermann-Moraes and Lutz methods. Thirty nine children (13%) were found to be infected by S. stercoralis, 64.1% were boys and 35.9% were girls. Taking all the enteroparasites as a whole the results of the survey pointed out that 265 (88.4%) of the 300 children were infected by the following: Giardia lamblia, 78.3%; Ascaris lumbricoides, 15.3%; S. stercoralis, 13%; Hymenolepis nana, 6.7%; hookworms, 6%; Enterobius vermicularis, 4%; Hymenole-pis diminuta, 4% and Trichuris trichiura, 0.7%. From 265 infected children 64.5% were mono-infected, 27.2% were infected by two parasites and 8.3% had a poly-specific parasite burden. It was concluded that strongyloidiasis is hyperendemic in this area.
Key words: Strongyloides stercoralis - intestinal parasites - children - Brazil
Strongyloidiasis has heterogenic worldwide distribution, with three world regions, according to the predominance of the infection by Strongyloides stercoralis (Bavay, 1876): sporadic (<1%), endemic (1-5%) and hyperendemic (>5%) (Stuerchler 1981 apud Pires & Dreyer 1993).
The occurrence of S. stercoralis in children aged from 0-14 years in some Brazilian states is summarized in Table I.
This study aimed at surveying the prevalence of S. stercoralis and other enteroparasites in nursing school children aging from four months to seven years, in Uberlândia, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, from September 1994 to December 1995.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To Maria Cristina Mouta Rink for statistical analysis, to Prof. Dr Uriel Franco Rocha and Dr David G Francis for suggestions.
Table I | Table II | Table III
Supported by CAPES.
+Corresponding author. Fax: +55-34-218.2333
Received 10 July 1997
Accepted 17 November 1997
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