Intestinal Parasites in Children up to 14 Years Old Hospitalized with Diarrhea in Mozambique, 2014-2019.

Ofélia Luís Nhambirre,Nilsa De Deus,Assucênio Chissaque,Adilson Fernando Loforte Bauhofer,Olga Matos,Idalécia Cossa-Moiane,Maria Luisa Lobo

doi:10.3390/pathogens11030353

Abstract

Diarrhea remains a public health problem in Mozambique, even with control strategies being implemented. This analysis aimed to determine the proportion and factors associated with intestinal parasitic infection (IPI) in children up to 14 years old with diarrheal disease, in the southern, central and northern regions of Mozambique. A single diarrheal sample of 1424 children was collected in hospitals and examined using the formol-ether concentration and modified Ziehl–Neelsen techniques to identify intestinal parasites using optical microscopy. Sociodemographic characteristics were obtained by questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and cross-tabulation were performed, and p-values <0.05 were considered statistically significant. A single IPI was detected in 19.2% (273/1424) of the children. Cryptosporidium spp. was the most common parasite (8.1%; 115/1424). Polyparasitism was seen in 26.0% (71/273), with the co-infection of Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura (26.8%; 19/71) being the most common. Age and province were related to IPI (p-value < 0.05). The highest occurrence of IPI was observed in the wet period (October to March), with 21.9% (140/640), compared to the dry period (April to September), with 16.9% (131/776) (p-value = 0.017). Cryptosporidium spp. and the combination of A. lumbricoides/T. trichiura were the main intestinal parasites observed in children hospitalized with diarrhea in Mozambique.

Highlights

Parasitology Unit, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical (IHMT), Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Instituto Nacional de Saúde (INS), EN1, Bairro da Vila-Parcela n◦ 3943, Distrito de Marracuene, Institute of Tropical Medicine, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
In 2019, approximately half a million of the 5,050,000 total child deaths were due to diarrheal diseases and 53% of those deaths occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a contribution of 7573 from Mozambique [1]
We aimed to describe the epidemiology of parasites in children up to 14 years of age in four of the eleven provinces of Mozambique, using a simple and inexpensive method—optical microscopy

Summary

Introduction

Diarrhea remains a public health problem in Mozambique, even with control strategies being implemented. This analysis aimed to determine the proportion and factors associated with intestinal parasitic infection (IPI) in children up to 14 years old with diarrheal disease, in the southern, central and northern regions of Mozambique. A single diarrheal sample of 1424 children was collected in hospitals and examined using the formol-ether concentration and modified Ziehl–Neelsen techniques to identify intestinal parasites using optical microscopy. In Mozambique, diarrhea remains a public health problem even though strategies have been implemented since 1990, including the introduction of vaccination against rotavirus, national health week where children are vaccinated, dewormed and supplemented with vitamin A, and the improvement of water, sanitation and hygiene [2]. Children aged between 6 and 23 months (19%) are more likely to have diarrhea compared to children under 6 months (5%) and children between 48 and 59 months (6%) in Mozambique [4]

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