Geohelminth infections protect against severe inflammatory diarrhoea in children.
We investigated the risk of severe inflammatory diarrhoea associated with geohelminth parasites in 1746 children attending a rural hospital in Ecuador from December 2000 to July 2002. Infections with geohelminths were strongly protective against the risk of severe inflammatory diarrhoea. Our findings suggest that geohelminth infections have important protective effects against enteroinvasive infections in young children.
Laboratorio de Investigaciones, Hospital Pedro Vicente Maldonado, Pichincha Province, Ecuador. pcooper@ecnet.ec
P J
PJ
Cooper
C
C
Sandoval
M E
ME
Chico
G E
GE
Griffin
D000818:Animals; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D004404:Dysentery, Amebic / Q000453:epidemiology; D004484:Ecuador / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006373:Helminthiasis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012423:Rural Health; D014257:Trichuriasis / Q000453:epidemiology; D014258:Trichuris