Abstract
The high frequency of intestinal parasites is favored by environmental and socio-cultural conditions of indigenous populations, and is still a neglected public health problem. Mass administration of broad-spectrum drugs aims to reduce the prevalence and intensity of the infections. The prevalence of intestinal parasites in school-children in an indigenous Guarani village in southern Brazil, was evaluated before and after the mass treatment of the population with albendazole. In the first phase of collection of stool samples, 81.4% of them were positive for enteroparasites and in the second phase, after two doses of antiparasitic medication, 87.5% were positive. Although the prevalence of infections by some helminths has reduced after treatment, many parasites remained frequent in the studied population, showing a change in the epidemiological profile in the distribution of these diseases in the population. The prevalence of intestinal parasites in indigenous schoolchildren proved to be high even after mass treatment with albendazole.
Highlights
Intestinal parasitic infections are among the main diseases in developing countries and are considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) as neglected tropical diseases (Hotez, 2009).In indigenous villages, even with the implementation of sanitation actions, health services are often unable to control these infections
These findings indicate that the treatment of human and animal excrement in indigenous lands is inadequate and improvements in sanitation and water treatment, in addition to periodic treatment of the population with antiparasitic agents, are necessary (Scolari et al, 2000; Toledo et al, 2009; Silva et al, 2016a; Moura et al, 2010; Silva et al, 2016b; Nishi et al, 2009)
Due to the lack of data regarding parasitological health indicators in the Guarani indigenous people and the effectiveness of parasitic treatment in this group, we aimed to evaluate the frequency of intestinal parasitosis in school-aged children in a Guarani indigenous village in the State of Paraná, before and after treatment with antiparasitic medication adopted as the only action to control these diseases
Summary
Intestinal parasitic infections are among the main diseases in developing countries and are considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) as neglected tropical diseases (Hotez, 2009).In indigenous villages, even with the implementation of sanitation actions, health services are often unable to control these infections. In Kaingang lands, the frequency of peridomiciliar soil samples contaminated by enteroparasites of humans or animals with zoonotic potential ranged from 75.7% to 96.2% (Moura et al, 2010) and water contamination with waterborne protozoa, such as Giardia spp and Cryptosporidium spp, was observed (Nishi et al, 2009) These findings indicate that the treatment of human and animal excrement in indigenous lands is inadequate and improvements in sanitation and water treatment, in addition to periodic treatment of the population with antiparasitic agents, are necessary (Scolari et al, 2000; Toledo et al, 2009; Silva et al, 2016a; Moura et al, 2010; Silva et al, 2016b; Nishi et al, 2009)
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