Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among school children in the central region of Thailand.

OBJECTIVE: Survey the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections in 14 primary schools of Central Thailand. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A cross sectional survey of the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections in 14 primary schools of Central Thailand that included Ang Thong, Ayudthaya, and Suphanburi provinces was conducted One thousand and thirty seven children with age ranging from 3-12 years (540 males and 497 females) were examined for intestinal parasites by the formalin-ether concentration technique. RESULT: The overall prevalence was 4.24%. The pathogenic parasites found were Giardia lamblia (1.25%), Enterobius vermicularis (0.19%), Trichuris trichiura and Hookworm (0.19% each), respectively. The common non-pathogenic protozoa found were Entamoeba coli (1.64%) and Endolimax nana (0.48%). The infection rate of Blastocystis hominis was 0.19%. CONCLUSION: Interestingly, the area studied which is low and flat and contains rice and water chestnut fields and small rivers, did not demonstrate Fasciolopsis buski as highly found in the past five decades. However, Parasittic infections are still public health problems in Thailand Close monitoring and control of parasitic infections is needed