Opisthorchis viverrini infection in rural and urban communities in northeast Thailand.
The prevalence and intensity of liver-fluke (Opisthorchis viverrini) infection were investigated among 559 patients who were born in, and had lived all their lives in, either the rural or urban northeastern Thailand. 344 (79.4%) of 433 rural dwellers were infected compared with only 69 (54.8%) of 126 urban dwellers (P less than 0.005). The intensity of infection, and the reported level of consumption of koi-pla, a favourite dish of local inhabitants prepared from uncooked freshwater fish which often contains viable metacercariae, were greater among rural dwellers than their urban counterparts (P less than 0.05 to P less than 0.005). Infection due to O. viverrini appears to be mainly a rural problem strongly associated with the habit and frequency of eating koi-pla.
Kurathong
S
S
Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand.
Lerdverasirikul
P
P
Wongpaitoon
V
V
Pramoolsinsap
C
C
Upatham
E S
ES
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D005399:Fishes / Q000469:parasitology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009889:Opisthorchiasis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012423:Rural Health; D013785:Thailand; D014504:Urban Health