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Aspects of intestinal parasitism in villagers from rural peninsular India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 November 2011

P. D. Bidinger ,
D. W. T. Crompton  and
Susan Arnold
P. D. Bidinger
Affiliation:
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru P.O., A.P. 502 324., India
D. W. T. Crompton
Affiliation:
The Molteno Institute, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EE
Susan Arnold
Affiliation:
The Molteno Institute, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EE
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Summary

In 1977, a parasitological survey was undertaken of stool samples collected from 335 people from 5 villages in semi-arid regions of peninsular India. Stools, which were collected from various individuals in a stratified sample of 40 matched households from each village, were examined by standard diagnostic procedures. Eggs of Ascaris lumbricoides and protozoan cysts, which were identified on morphological grounds as belonging to Entamoeba spp., were most common. Other protozoan cysts were considered to be those of Balantidium coli, and eggs of hookworm and Hymenolepis nana were also observed in some of the stool specimens. The prevalence of parasitic infections varied between villages. The village with the highest prevalence of Ascaris (70%) appeared to have the greatest demands made on its meagre drinking-water supply. This village is located in a dry, windy and dusty region and it is speculated that, in addition to well-established transmission mechanisms, the villagers may be exposed, perhaps through contamination of uncovered drinking-water wells and inhalation, to wind-borne Ascaris eggs. In 1967, a WHO Expert Committee Report on the Control of Ascariasis pointed out that information on the frequency of dust-borne infection with Ascaris in man was inadequate.

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 83 , Issue 2 , October 1981 , pp. 373 - 380
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

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