Abstract

PARDO, Veko  and  HERNANDEZ, Francisco. Prevalencia de parásitos intestinales en una población atendida en la clínica de Hatillo del Ministerio de Salud, 1995-1996. Rev. costarric. cienc. méd [online]. 1997, vol.18, n.2, pp.45-50. ISSN 0253-2948.

The prevalence of intestinal parasitism decreased during the last two decades. But, the problem persists in marginal populations, because they lack adequate infraestructure for sewage disposal and do not have sufficient potable water. Such conditions are common in shanty towns near the Hatillo Health Center, which is located in Southern of San José, Costa Rica. We choose this site to perform the analysis of intestinal parasitism because the presence of the unhealthy conditions in the neighbourhood of the clinic. Stool samples (3506) were analyzed by three technicians during 1995 and 1996. Positive results were found in 8,2 and 4,1% of them, with technicians Ascaris and Trichuris, respectively, and the most frequent protozoa were Entamoeba coli and Endolimax nana, found in 17,4 y 14,7% respectively, and Giardia was identified in 9,3% of the samples. The prevalence of Ascaris was almost twice the value reported for the country in 1982, and was similar to the prevalence found in marginal populations from the Hatillo area in 1987. We conclude that such high prevalence of intestinal parasitism found in this clinic is closely related to patients coming from places with unhealthy conditions.

Keywords : Intestinal parasitism; marginal population; Ascaris; Thichuris; Giardia; Entamoeba.