title: Prevalence of intestinal parasites in children from public daycare centers in the city of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
abstract: The objective of this study was to verify the occurrence of intestinal parasites in 3 to 6-year-old children from daycare centers maintained by the municipal government of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Coproparasitological tests performed in 472 children have shown that 24.6% of them had some type of parasites, 6.6% of the children having more than one type. Among protozoa, Entamoeba coli (14.0%) and G. duodenalis (9.5%) were the most prevalent, whereas Ascaris lumbricoides (3.0%) and Trichuris trichiura (1.1%) were the most frequent among the helminths. Thus, we can observe that intestinal parasites still represent a serious public health problem in Belo Horizonte, especially among children and in areas where the socioeconomic conditions are less favorable.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Amebíase, Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Aline L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Menezes
authors.forename: Vítor M P
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.forename: Mayrce T S
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Freitas
authors.forename: Míriam O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Rocha
authors.forename: Edward F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Silvio S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Dolabella
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002656:Child Day Care Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D006373:Helminthiasis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011528:Protozoan Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D017150:Public Sector