Activity of the Epidemic Process of Enterobiasis in the Russian Federation

Abstract

Relevance: The article describes the results of studying the activity of the epidemic process of enterobiasis, the most common parasitic disease in the Russian Federation. Our objective was to give a comprehensive assessment of the epidemic process of enterobiasis in the country based on the official data on the incidence of pinworm infection in the population and the results of parasitological studies of environmental media conducted in 2010–2017. Materials and methods: Using the methods of variation statistics, we estimated the dynamics of enterobiasis incidence and prevalence rates, studied the differences in the prevalence of enterobiasis detected during testing of suspected cases and of the general population for preventive purposes and epidemic reasons. Results: We established the role of pinworm infection in the structure of parasitic diseases, identified age groups and regions with the highest incidence and prevalence rates of enterobiasis. We observed significant differences in the prevalence of enterobiasis between Russian federal districts. The analysis of the ongoing sanitary parasitological studies helped reveal the regions of the country with a high and low frequency of detecting pinworm eggs in environmental media and the key factors activating the mechanism of transmission of pinworm eggs. Conclusions: We established that in some regions the pinworm infection was spread through the use of swimming pools, while in others it disseminated mainly through contaminated surfaces of various environmental media. At the same time, the estimated statistically significant decrease in the frequency of detecting pinworm eggs in swabs from environmental objects demonstrates the improvement of the sanitary and hygienic condition (maintenance) of epidemically significant facilities (educational establishments and other institutions).