Hookworm, Ascaris lumbricoides infection and polyparasitism associated with poor cognitive performance in Brazilian schoolchildren.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between hookworm and Ascaris lumbricoides infection and performance on three subsets of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - third edition (WISC-III) (Digit Span, Arithmetic and Coding) and Raven Colored Progressive Matrices. METHODS: Cross-sectional study of 210 children between the ages of 6 and 11 years in Americaninhas, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Separate proportional odds models were used to measure the association between the intensity of helminth infections and poor performance on each of the four cognitive tests. RESULTS: After adjusting for sex, age, socioeconomic status and other helminth infections, moderate-to-high-intensity hookworm infection was associated with poor performance on the WISC-III Coding subtest [OR = 3.20; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.43-7.17], low intensity of hookworm infection was associated with poor performance on the WISC-III Coding subtest [odds ratio (OR) = 3.71; 95% CI = 1.80-7.66] and moderate-to-high-intensity A. lumbricoides infection was associated with poor performance on the Raven test (OR = 2.03; 95% CI = 1.04-3.99), all in comparison with uninfected children. Children co-infected with A. lumbricoides infection and hookworm infection had greater odds of poor performance on some WISC-III subtests than children with only A. lumbricoides infection. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that hookworm infection may be associated with poorer concentration and information processing skills, as measured on the WISC-III Coding subtest, and that A. lumbricoides infection may be associated with poorer general intelligence, as measured through the Raven Colored Progressive Matrices. This study also presents evidence that polyparasitized children experience worse cognitive outcomes than children with only one helminth infection.

Representações de crianças de zona rural sobre saúde e o pesquisador: a grande saúde e o grande outro / Ideas of children from the rural area on health and research: the "great health" and the "great other" / Representaciones de niños de la zona rural sobre la salud y el investigador: la "gran salud" y el "gran otro"

Neste estudo, a proposta foi levantar as representações sociais sobre saúde de crianças residentes em área endêmica em ancilostomíase, zona rural, onde é desenvolvida uma pesquisa experimental, buscando compreender como elas constroem no seu imaginário o trabalho dos pesquisadores. Emergiu dos discursos das crianças a representação da saúde como algo transcendental e do cientista como alguém virtuoso, cujo traço característico consiste em fazer o bem às pessoas, oferecendo-lhes saúde. Pode-se designar essa saúde ideal como "grande saúde", assim chamada por ser trazida pelo Outro, o cientista grandioso, poderoso, totalizador. Sobressai neste trabalho a pertinência da utilização de técnicas e métodos diversos para a identificação das representações sociais de crianças de zona rural que permitem colocar em evidência o universo semântico do objeto estudado, assim como sua dimensão imagética, de forma mais rápida e dinâmica que instrumentos mais convencionais.

This study intends to record the ideas of children from areas with endemic hookworm, in a rural zone, about health and the work done by researchers. From the discourse of the children it was shown they see health as something transcendental, and scientists as virtuous people, doing good to others, providing them with health. This health ideal can be described as a "great health" because it is brought by the "other", the grandiose, powerful, totalizing scientist. This work is significant in that it shows the relevance of using different techniques and methods to identify the social representations of children from the rural areas which make it possible to show the semantic universe of the object studied, as well as its imagery, in a quicker and more dynamic way than conventional instruments.

El presente estudio se propone estudiar las representaciones sociales sobre la salud elaboradas por niños que viven en una zona rural endémica de anquilostomiasis donde se realiza una investigación experimental que busca entender cómo construyen en su imaginario el trabajo de los investigadores. A partir de los discursos de los niños surge la representación de la salud como algo transcendental y del científico como alguien virtuoso, cuyo rasgo característico es hacer el bien a las personas ofreciéndoles salud. Se puede decir que esta salud ideal es la "gran salud" llamada así porque la trae el Otro, el científico grandioso, poderoso, totalizador. En este trabajo se destaca la pertinencia del empleo de distintas técnicas y métodos para identificar representaciones sociales de niños de la zona rural que permiten poner en evidencia el universo semántico del objeto estudiado, al igual que su dimensión imagética, con más rapidez y dinamismo que otros instrumentos convencionales.