Parasitic prevalence in a suburban school of Famaillá, Tucumán, Argentina

Abstract

Prevalence of intestinal parasites was investigated in rural primary school children in Famaill´a city, Tucum´an province, Argentina. Stool specimens from 149 school children were collected. The prevalence rate of intestinal parasite infections was 86.6%. No significant differences were observed in the distribution by age or by sex. Blastocystis hominis was the most commonly found protozoan parasite (54.4%), followed by Entamoeba coli (35.6%), Giardia lamblia (24.8%), and others (16.7%). Enterobius vermicularis was the most prevalent intestinal helminth (27.5%), followed by Ascaris lumbricoides (20.8%), Trichuris trichiura (12.8%), and others (5.4%). Most of the patients had polyparasitism (62.4%), and protozoan infections prevailed over helminthic infections. These results show high rates of parasitism in the school children of Famaill´a, which would be associated with socioeconomic factors and poor environmental sanitation conditions in this area.