Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among school children in capital areas of the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, West Africa.

BACKGROUND: Although the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe (DRSTP) has undertaken school children-based deworming programs against intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) using a single dose of mebendazole annually since 2005, it remains unclear as to the outcome to date. The present study intends to investigate the recent IPIs status among school children living in capital areas of the DRSTP. METHODS: A total of 252 school children (121 boys and 131 girls) of grades 4 and 5 from 4 primary schools located in the capital areas participated in the present study and their fresh fecal specimens were examined for the presence of any parasites using the merthiolate-iodine-formaldehyde concentration method as conducted. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of IPIs was 64.7% (163/ 252). No significant gender difference in prevalence between boys (67.8%) and girls (61.8%) was found (p = 0.3). The majority of school children were infected with a single species of parasite (55.8%). Altogether, 12 different intestinal parasite species were identified in DRSTP school children, of which 9 species were pathogenic and the remaining 3 were non-pathogenic. CONCLUSION: Improving the detection method, sanitation facilities and personal hygiene as well as utilizing combined drugs are all important measures to greatly reduce IPIs in DRSTP school children.

Seroprevalence and Associated Risk Factors of Toxocariasis among College Students in Taipei City, Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: Infection by Toxocara spp. is known to be significantly associated with partial epilepsy. It has become popular for people to raise dogs/cats as pets and consume roasted meat/viscera, and the status of Toxocara spp. infection, epilepsy awareness, and associated risk factors among the general population are currently unknown in Taiwan. METHODS: A seroepidemiological investigation among 203 college students (CSs), consisting of 110 males and 93 females with an average age of 21.5 ± 1.2 years, was conducted in 2009 in Taipei City. A Western blot analysis based on excretory-secretory antigens derived from Toxocara canis larvae (TcESs) was applied to determine the positivity of serum immunoglobulin G antibodies. A self-administered questionnaire was also given to obtain information about demographic characteristics, epilepsy awareness, and risk factors. A logistic regression model was applied for the statistical analysis using SPSS software. RESULTS: The overall seropositive rate of Toxocara spp. infection was 8.4% (17/203). As to epilepsy awareness, a non-significantly higher seroprevalence was found in CSs who claimed to "know" about epilepsy compared to those who did not know (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: It appears that appropriate educational programs are urgently needed to provide correct knowledge related to the prevention and control measures against Toxocara spp. infections to avoid potential threats by this parasite to the general population in Taiwan.

Enterobius vermicularis infection is well controlled among preschool children in nurseries of Taipei City, Taiwan.

INTRODUCTION: Whether Enterobius vermicularis (pinworm) infections among preschool children in Taipei City had truly declined was investigated. METHODS: A total of 6,661 preschool children from 28 nurseries were randomly selected from 4 major geographic districts in Taipei City to examine the status of pinworm infection by using adhesive thin cellophane tape swab method. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of pinworm infection was 0.5% (30/6,661). Boys (0.6%; 21/3,524) had higher prevalence than girls (0.3%; 9/3,137) (p=0.06). Southern district (0.6%; 10/1,789) showed insignificantly higher prevalence than Western district (0.2%; 1/606) (p=0.22). CONCLUSIONS: Pinworm screening program remains necessary for some parts of Taipei City.