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.
Muniz
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PT
Curso de Enfermagem, Departamento de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Acre, Campus Universitário, 69915-900 Rio Branco, AC, Brazil.
Ferreira
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MU
Ferreira
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CS
Conde
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WL
Monteiro
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CA
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