Abstract

SERRANO-FRAGO, Erasmo  and  CANTILLO-ARRIETA, Adriana. Las parasitosis intestinales más frecuentes en la población infantil del área de salud de San Ramón de Alajuela. Acta méd. costarric [online]. 2001, vol.43, n.3, pp.114-118. ISSN 0001-6002.

Background and aim: Intestinal parasitosis by protozoa and helminths, remains a public health problem in many places around the globe. The present study aimes to determine the frequency of these parasitosis in children between 1 and 12 years old in San Ramón, Alajuela, Costa Rica. Method: In this retrospective study 5250 fecal samples of children between 1 and 12 years old were studied. The samples were collected and examined from December 1999 to November 2000. The samples were ordered by the treating physician, in patients whom they suspected as having intestinal parasitosis. The information was obtained from the medical files of each patient. Results: Of the 5250 cases studied 40.4% had parasites in the fecal sample. A majority of the cases corresponded to protozoa (1478 samples), and 645 samples were positive for helminths. Among the protozoa found the most frequent ones were E. histolytica, E. coli yG. intestinalis. Among the helminths E. vernicularis, S. stercoralisand H. nana were the most frequent ones. With regard to sexdistribution 30.7% of the girls had parasitosis compared to 49.7% of the boys. Conclusion: Intestinal parasitic infection remains highly frequent among the pediatric population. There has been a reduction in the frequency of helminths due to massive control campaigns. However, protozoa have emerged due to a lackof combined antiparasitic therapy in these campaigns.