title: Prevalence of intestinal parasites in preschool children in the region of Uberlândia, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Children are an important high-risk group for helminth and protozoa infections. Daycare centers are environments where children have proven to be more susceptible to acquiring intestinal parasites. Thus, the purpose of this study was to verify the prevalence of intestinal parasites in children who attended the two daycare centers maintained by the local government of Uberlândia, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fecal samples were collected from 133 children (73 children at the Public Preschool for Early Childhood Education, PPECE A, and 60 at the PPECE B) following identification according to sex and age and agreement to participate by parents or guardians who signed the free, informed consent form. The samples were examined by the Lutz method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Coproparasitological tests performed on 133 children showed that 29.3% of them were parasitized for enteroparasites or commensals, 6.7% of the children presented polyparasitism. Among the protozoa, Giardia lamblia were the most prevalent and Hymenolepis nana were the most frequent among the helminths.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Thus, analysis of the results showed that intestinal parasites still represent a public health problem, especially among children and in areas where the socioeconomic and educational conditions are less favorable.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brasil.
authors.forename: Ana Lúcia Ribeiro
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.forename: Talita Lucas
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Belizário
authors.forename: Janderson de Brito
authors.initials: Jde B
authors.lastname: Pimentel
authors.forename: Mário Paulo Amante
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Penatti
authors.forename: Reginaldo dos Santos
authors.initials: Rdos S
authors.lastname: Pedroso
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002656:Child Day Care Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D006373:Helminthiasis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011528:Protozoan Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*