Prevalence of intestinal parasites in patients attending a clinical analysis laboratory of a city in the Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil
Introduction: Intestinal parasitic diseases are characterized as a serious public health problem in Brazil. Such diseases are associated with socio-cultural conditions, such as educational level, income, basic sanitation, hygiene habits, age of the individual, among others. Objective: To verify the...
| Autores: | , |
|---|---|
| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2020 |
| País: | Brasil |
| Institución: | Faculdade de Medicina de São José do Rio Preto (FAMERP) |
| Repositorio: | Archives of Health Sciences (Online) |
| Idioma: | portugués |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ojs2.ahs.famerp.br:article/66 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://ahs.famerp.br/index.php/ahs/article/view/66 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Parasitos, Doenças parasitarias, Prevalência Parasites, Parasitic Diseases, Prevalence |
| Sumario: | Introduction: Intestinal parasitic diseases are characterized as a serious public health problem in Brazil. Such diseases are associated with socio-cultural conditions, such as educational level, income, basic sanitation, hygiene habits, age of the individual, among others. Objective: To verify the prevalence of intestinal parasites in patients treated at a clinical analysis laboratory. Methods: This was an observational, cross-sectional and descriptive study using a quantitative approach in which 1,808 reports of parasitological stool examination (EPF) were analyzed. It was performed in a clinical analysis laboratory in the city of Bento Gonçalves, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, from January 1st, 2016 to December 31, 2018. Results: Parasites were found in 5, 3% of the analyzed samples. Endolimax nana was the most prevalent parasite (37.5%), followed by Giardia lamblia (27.1%) and Entamoeba coli (21.9%). Evidence of a higher prevalence of intestinal parasites was observed in male patients (54.1%). In relation to age, the highest percentage of positive samples (42.7%) was found in children. It was analyzed 3,235 samples. Of these, 59.1% (1012/1712) of patients with negative EPF collected only one sample; 4.0% (69/1712) collected two samples, and 36.9% (631/1712) collected three samples. Regarding patients with positive EPF, 47.9% (46/96) collected only one sample; 4.1% (4/96) collected two samples, and 47.9% (46/96) collected three samples. Conclusion: There was a lower prevalence of intestinal parasites when compared to other studies conducted in Brazil and the state of Rio Grande do Sul. However, the presence of intestinal parasites in the population, such as E. nana and G. lamblia, indicate fecal contamination, and constitute a bad indicator of socioeconomic, environmental, and sanitary conditions. |
|---|