INTESTINAL PARASITES IN ST LUCIA: A RETROSPECTIVE, LABORATORY-BASED STUDY

Objective: To investigate the epidemiology of intestinal parasitic infections and the presence of Schistosomiasis in the island of St. Lucia. Methods: A retrospective survey was conducted using data from hospitals and diagnostic laboratories on the island. A total of 10,735 stool samples were recorded from 10,508 individual people during January 2002 to December 2005. Results: The study yielded an overall parasitic prevalence of 26.1% (n=2807) with 95%-confidence interval (95% CI) = 24.5 - 27.7. The overall prevalence of helminthes infection was 13.3% (n=1424; 95% CI = 11.5 – 15.1) with hookworm, Ancylostoma duodenale or Necator americanus contributing most to the prevalence with 4.8%, followed by Strongyloides 2.9%, Ascaris lumbricoides 2.5%, Trichuris trichiura 2.5%, Schistosoma mansoni 0.3% and Taenia sp. 0.1%. The prevalence for all intestinal protozoans was 12.9% (n=1383; 95% CI = 11.1 – 14.7) with Entamoeba coli contributing most to the protozoan prevalence with 5.6%, followed by Endolimax nana 4.1%, Iodamoeba butschli 1.1%, Entamoeba histolytica/ E.dispar/ E. moshkovski 1.1%, Giardia lamblia 0.6 % and Entamoeba hartmanni 0.2%. Conclusion: The study has provided important data on the epidemiology of intestinal parasitic infection present in the community of St Lucia and supports the need for a well designed community based intervention study.