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EPIDEMIOLOGY OF INTESTINAL HELMINTH INFESTATIONS AMONG SCHOOLCHILDREN IN SOUTHERN UGANDA
Abstract
Objective: To determine the prevalence and intensity of intestinal helminth species among
school children in southern Uganda.
Design: A cross-sectional survey using a randomly selected sample.
Setting: Eighteen districts of southern Uganda,
Subject: Two thousand and four school children aged two to twenty years (93.3 %, aged 5-10
years) selected from classes 1 and 2 in 26 randomly selected primary schools.
Results: Overall, 55.9 % of children were infected with either hookworm,Ascarislumbricotdes
or Trichuris trichiura. The prevalence of A. lurnbricoides was 17.5% ( range 0-66.7% by
schtml), T. trichiura was 7.3% (0 - 45.0%) and hookworm 44.5% (15.6-86.0%). The
prevalence of A. lumbricoides and T. trichiura was greatest in western districts while
hookworm infection was more evenly distributed across the country.
Conclusion: Mass antihelminthic treatment of school children was warranted in 13 of the 18
districts as more than 50% of the children were infected with an intestinal nematode. It is
likely that pre-school children are similarly infected.
school children in southern Uganda.
Design: A cross-sectional survey using a randomly selected sample.
Setting: Eighteen districts of southern Uganda,
Subject: Two thousand and four school children aged two to twenty years (93.3 %, aged 5-10
years) selected from classes 1 and 2 in 26 randomly selected primary schools.
Results: Overall, 55.9 % of children were infected with either hookworm,Ascarislumbricotdes
or Trichuris trichiura. The prevalence of A. lurnbricoides was 17.5% ( range 0-66.7% by
schtml), T. trichiura was 7.3% (0 - 45.0%) and hookworm 44.5% (15.6-86.0%). The
prevalence of A. lumbricoides and T. trichiura was greatest in western districts while
hookworm infection was more evenly distributed across the country.
Conclusion: Mass antihelminthic treatment of school children was warranted in 13 of the 18
districts as more than 50% of the children were infected with an intestinal nematode. It is
likely that pre-school children are similarly infected.
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