Intestinal parasitic infections in young children in São Paulo, Brazil: prevalences, temporal trends and associations with physical growth.
The prevalences of intestinal parasitic infections were investigated, between 1995 and 1996, in a household-based sample of 1044 children aged <5 years who lived in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Only 10.7% of the children were infected, the most prevalent parasites being Giardia duodenalis (5.5%), Ascaris lumbricoides (4.4%) and Trichuris trichiura (1.0%). A comparison between these data and results from two previous population-based surveys, completed in São Paulo in 1974 and 1985, revealed a dramatic decrease in the prevalence of intestinal helminths in this age-group, with less marked changes in the prevalence of Giardia, over the two past decades. Despite the low prevalence of malnutrition (2.4% of stunting and 0.6% of wasting) and intestinal parasites in this population, there was a significant association (P=0.05, after controlling for potential confounding variables) between helminth (but not Giardia) infection and height. The helminth-infected children had a mean height-for-age z-score of-0.412 [95% confidence interval (CI)=-0.637--0.186], compared with one of 0.015 (CI=-0.049-0.079) for the non-infected children. No significant relationship between intestinal parasitic infection and children's weight was detected. In conclusion, a small but significant negative relationship between intestinal helminthic infections and children's growth was detected in an urban environment with low prevalences of both intestinal parasitic infection and malnutrition.
Curso de Enfermagem, Departamento de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Acre, Campus Universitário, 69915-900 Rio Branco, AC, Brazil.
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D017677:Age Distribution; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006128:Growth; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence