Enteroparasitosis a public health problem: a cross-cutting study with educational intervention
International Journal of Development Research
Enteroparasitosis a public health problem: a cross-cutting study with educational intervention
Received 10th August, 2021; Received in revised form 19th September, 2021; Accepted 08th October, 2021; Published online 30th October, 2021
Copyright © 2021, Rafaela Costa de Aranda Lima et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Parasitic diseases are serious public health problems mainly due to the lack of basic sanitation and educational prevention campaigns. Intestinal parasites are among the most frequently found pathogens in humans and cause diseases that can manifest in different ways and even lead to sepsis in immunosuppressed patients. This study assesses the prevalence of intestinal parasites in the population of a city in the interior of Brazil. A total of 428 results of coproparasitological examinations were analyzed during four months and an educational intervention was carried out. The overall prevalence coefficient was 43.8% positivity, most frequently for Endolimax nana (16.72%), followed by Entamoeba Histolytica (9.59%), Giardia lamblia (5.42%), Ascaris lumbricoides ( 2 .01%), Strongiloidesstercoralis (1.70%), Ancylostomidae and Taenia sp (0.16%) respectively. This prevalence is similar to that found in other Brazilian regions, showing that there is a need to implement public health policies to improve health conditions. We verified that the educational intervention was well accepted by the local population affected by intestinal parasites.
