Parasitic infestation and nutritional status among schoolchildren in Vientiane, Lao PDR.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infestation among school-aged children residing in Vientiane capital city; and to assess the impact of its infestation on nutrition status of those children.


METHODS
The school-based cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2005 to February 2006. The systemic random samplings were employed to select schools and schoolchildren. Five hundred and thirty-six schoolchildren (350 high-school children and 186 parents of elementary-school children) were completely interviewed by semistructured questionnaire and performed anthropometric measurement. The direct faecal smear was employed to analyse 299 (55.8%) stool samples. The SPSS version 12.01 and Epi Info version 6.0 were used for data analysis.


RESULTS
The overall prevalence of parasitic infestation was 38.1%, with 18.1% of Opisthorchis viverrini and 14.7% of Ascaris lumbricoides. The prevalences of stunting and underweight were 20.2% and 20.0%, respectively. The prevalences of stunting (OR = 3.28; P < 0.01) and underweight (OR = 2.69; P < 0.05) were higher among high-school children who were infested by intestinal parasites.


CONCLUSIONS
Approximately one-third of schoolchildren in Vientiane capital city were infested by intestinal parasites. The persistent parasitic infestation seemed to be associated with growth rate pattern among those children. School-based parasite control programme and health promotion are needed to eliminate this major public health problem in Lao People Democratic Republic.
Phathammavong
Outavong
O
Department of Health Policy and Planning, School of International Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
Moazzam
Ali
A
Xaysomphoo
Duangphachan
D
Phengsavanh
Alongkone
A
Kuroiwa
Chushi
C
D000293:Adolescent; D000886:Anthropometry; D002648:Child; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006920:Hygiene; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D007812:Laos / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires