Intestinal parasitism in a Primary School of Ciego de Avila.

Abstract

A parasitic study was conducted, from May to June, 2001, involving 240 children from the "José A, Echevarría" primary school of Ciego de Avila municipality. Their ages ranged from 5-11 years. Each child was administered a questionnaire so as to know the behaviour of intestinal parasitism. Data such as sex, akin color, presence of clinical symptoms, hygiene and feeding habits were gathered. In each case, 3 stool samples were examined by the application of the Ritchie method (formaldehyde, ether). The most frequent pathogen identified was Giardia lamblia (33,3%), followed by Entoamoeba coli (27.9%), Endolimax nana 8 (26.6%), Blastocystis hominis (14.2%). The most prevalent among helminths was Trichuris trichura (4.8%). These results reveal that intestinal parasites constitute a real health trouble in this educational center.