Changes in the epidemiological profile of intestinal parasites after a school-based large-scale treatment for soil-transmitted helminths in a community in northeastern Brazil: Epidemiological profile after large-scale school-based treatment for STH

Abstract

Intestinal parasites cause a significant public health problem worldwide due to the associated morbidities, mainly in infected school-aged children (SAC). The strategy of large-scale deworming in SAC to control the transmission of soil-transmitted helminths (STH) has been advocated by the World Health Organization and was recently adopted in Brazil; however, the long-term effects of mass deworming on the larger parasitological profile have been less studied. After a five-year period of school-based large-scale treatment for STH using an annual single dose of albendazole in a community of Sergipe state, Brazil, a marked reduction in prevalence was observed (15.4%% vs.7.4% for Ascaris sp., 6.0%% vs. 0.4% for hookworm, and 12.8%% vs. 4.5%% for Trichuris trichiura), with the exception of Strongyloides stercoralis, which had no statistically significant change in prevalence. There was, however, an increase in the prevalence of intestinal protozoans, specifically Entamoeba histolytica/E. dispar (0.0%% vs. 36.0%), Blastocystis hominis (0.0%% vs. 40.1%), and Giardia duodenalis (5.6%% vs. 14.5%). Although the findings showed a dramatic reduction in the prevalence of STH after four rounds of preventive chemotherapy, there was an increase in intestinal protozoan infections, indicating a change in the epidemiological profile.