Rebolla MF, Silva EM, Gomes JF, Falcão AX, Rebolla MVF, Franco RMB. HIGH PREVALENCE OF Blastocystis spp. INFECTION IN CHILDREN AND STAFF MEMBERS ATTENDING PUBLIC URBAN SCHOOLS IN SÃO PAULO STATE, BRAZIL.
Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo 2016;
58:31. [PMID:
27074325 PMCID:
PMC4826084 DOI:
10.1590/s1678-9946201658031]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2014] [Accepted: 11/06/2015] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
After a gastroenteritis outbreak of unknown etiology in the municipality of
Sebastião da Grama, SãoPaulo, Brazil, we
conducted a parasitological survey to establish the epidemiological profile of
enteroparasitosis in children and staff members attending the public urban schools in
operation in town. The cross-sectional study evaluated 172 children aged 11 months to
6 years old and 33 staff members aged 19 to 58 years old. Overall, 96 (55.81%)
children and 20 (60.61%) staff members were mono-parasitized, while 58 (33.72%)
children and 4 (12.12%) workers were poly-parasitized. Protozoa (88.37%; 72.73%) was
more prevalent than helminthes (3.48%; 0%) in children and staff members
respectively.Blastocystis spp. was the most prevalent parasite in
children (86.63%) and staff members (66.67%). The age of 1 year old or less was found
to be associated with increased prevalence of giardiasis [OR = 13.04; 95%CI
2.89-58.91; p = 0.00] and public garbage collection was identified
as a protective factor against intestinal helminth infections [OR = 0.06; 95%CI
0.00-0.79; p = 0.03]. Although most of the children tested positive
for Blastocystis spp. and also presented clinical signs/symptoms
(62.2%), this association was not statistically significant [OR = 1.35; 95%CI
0.53-3.44; p = 0.51]. Intestinal parasites still represent a public
health concern and this study underscores the importance of further investigations to
better understand the pathogenic role of Blastocystis spp.
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