Abstract

INDELMAN, Paula et al. Enteric parasites in children in Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina. Acta bioquím. clín. latinoam. [online]. 2011, vol.45, n.2, pp.329-334. ISSN 0325-2957.

Faeces from 112 children patients (51 girls and 61 boys) ranging from 4 months old to 16 years old were studied. These patients were assisted in ten Public Health Care Centres in Rosario. The aim of this work was: to determine the incidence of enteric parasites in children, and to evaluate and compare parasite prevalence in the following periods: 1983/1984, 1990/1991, 1992/1993 and 2007/2008. Forty-one per cent of the samples showed protozoa and helmints. A decrease in the percentage of polyparasitized patients and an increase in the monoparasitized ones was observed when compared to previous years. Blastocystis hominis was found to increase in 2007/2008 while Giardia lamblia remained unaltered in the four periods studied. The occurrence of Entamoeba coli was found to decrease in the 1992/1993 period while Ascaris lumbricoides increased with time. These were the most common parasites found in the population studied. Enteric parasites decreased in children. The occurrence of parasites could be due to different socio-environmental factors: malnutrition, climate changes, and an increase both in temperature and humidity. However, a decrease in the levels of parasitosis was observed, which could be due to public health environmental policies, prevention campaigns and deparasitization from the different health care centres of the city.

Keywords : Intestinal parasitosis; Prevalence; Pediatric population; Protozoa; Helmints.

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