High prevalence of liver and intestinal fluke infections among residents of Savannakhet Province in Laos.
The prevalence of liver and intestinal fluke infections was surveyed on residents of Savannakhet Province, Laos. Fecal specimens were collected from a total of 981 residents in 4 Mekong riverside villages and examined by the Kato-Katz thick smear technique. The results revealed that the overall helminth egg positive rate was 84.2%, and the positive rate for small trematode eggs, including Opisthorchis viverrini, heterophyids, or lecithodendriids, was 67.1%. To obtain adult flukes, 38 small trematode egg positive cases were treated with a 20-30 mg/kg single dose of praziquantel and purged. Diarrheic stools were then collected from 29 people and searched for helminth parasites using stereomicroscopes. Mixed infections with O. viverrini and 6 kinds of intestinal flukes were found, namely, Haplorchis taichui, Haplorchis pumilio, Haplorchis yokogawai, Prosthodendrium molenkampi, Phaneropsolus bonnei, and echinostomes. The total number of flukes collected was 7,693 specimens (av. no. per treated person; 265.3). The most common species was O. viverrini, followed by H. taichui, P. molenkampi, echinostomes, H. pumilio, P. bonnei, and H. yokogawai. The results indicate that foodborne liver and intestinal fluke infections are prevalent among residents of Savannakhet Province, Laos.
Chai
Jong-Yil
JY
Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, and Institute of Endemic Diseases, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul 110-799, Korea. cjy@snu.ac.kr
Han
Eun-Taek
ET
Guk
Sang-Mee
SM
Shin
Eun-Hee
EH
Sohn
Woon-Mok
WM
Yong
Tai-Soon
TS
Eom
Keeseon S
KS
Lee
Keon-Hoon
KH
Jeong
Hoo-Gn
HG
Ryang
Yong-Sang
YS
Hoang
Eui-Hyug
EH
Phommasack
Bounlay
B
Insisiengmay
Bounnaloth
B
Lee
Soon-Hyung
SH
Rim
Han-Jong
HJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D000871:Anthelmintics / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D007812:Laos / Q000453:epidemiology; D008109:Liver Diseases, Parasitic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010270:Parasite Egg Count; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011223:Praziquantel / Q000008:administration & dosage; D015995:Prevalence; D014200:Trematoda / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014201:Trematode Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*
D000871:Anthelmintics; D011223:Praziquantel