TY - JOUR AU - Cook, David M AU - Swanson, R Chad AU - Eggett, Dennis L AU - Booth, Gary M PY - 2009/09/09 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - A Retrospective Analysis of Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Parasites among School Children in the Palajunoj Valley of Guatemala JF - Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition JA - J Health Popul Nutr VL - 27 IS - 1 SE - Original Papers DO - 10.3329/jhpn.v27i1.3321 UR - https://www.banglajol.info/index.php/JHPN/article/view/3321 SP - 31-40 AB - <p>This study retrospectively analyzed demographic factors that may affect the prevalence of intestinal parasites among Guatemalan school children. The findings of the study showed that young age, wet season, female gender, and severe malnutrition all correlated positively with increased rates of infection. Clinical visits were performed on 10,586 school children aged 5-15 years over a four-year period (2004-2007) in the Palajunoj Valley of Guatemala, during which 5,705 viable stool samples were screened for infection with the following parasites: <em>Ascaris lumbricoides</em>, <em>Giardia lamblia</em>, <em>Entamoeba histolytica</em>, <em>Hymenolepis nana</em>, and <em>Blastocystis hominis. </em>The average overall prevalences of infection for specific parasites were <em>A. lumbricoides </em>17.7%, <em>E. histolytica </em>16.1%, <em>G. lamblia </em>10.9%, <em>H. nana </em>5.4%, and <em>B. hominis </em>2.8%. Statistical analysis showed significantly higher rates of infection among younger children with <em>G. lamblia </em>(odds ratio [OR]=0.905, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.871-0.941, p&lt;0.0001) and <em>E. histolytica </em>(p=0.0006), greater prevalence of <em>H. nana </em>among females (OR=1.275, CI 1.010-1.609, p=0.0412), higher infection rates during the wet season for <em>E. histolytica </em>(p=0.0003) and <em>H. nana </em>(OR=0.734, CI 0.557-0.966, p=0.0275), and greater rates of infection with <em>G. lamblia </em>among malnourished children (for moderately malnourished children OR=1.498, CI 1.143-1.963, p&lt;0.0001) and <em>E. histolytica </em>(for mildly malnourished children OR=1.243, CI 1.062-1.455, p=0.0313). The results suggest that the prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites among young Guatemalan children is highly dependent on the specific species of the parasite.</p> <p><strong>Key words: </strong>Amoebiasis; Ascariasis; <em>Ascaris lumbricoides; Blastocystis hominis; </em>Child; <em>Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia lamblia; </em>Giardiasis; <em>Hymenolepis nana; </em>Intestinal diseases, Parasitic; Parasites; Retrospective studies; Guatemala</p> <p>doi: 10.3329/jhpn.v27i1.3321</p> <p>J Health Popul Nutr 2009 Feb;27(1):31-40</p> ER -