ESTUDIO ENTEROPARASITOLÓGICO COMPARADO EN NIÑOS DE CURITIBA Y

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasites among the children of Curitiba and Metropolitan area and examine the effect of the hygienic-sanitary and socioeconomic conditions of each area, comparing with a previous study done in 1996. The efficiency of the method used (Hoffman et al) was analysed comparing the results with others methods used in control groups (Ritchie and Kato-Katz). The total prevalence of intestinal parasites in all the studied schools was smaller than the prevalence of the study in 1996. The most prevalent species of protozoans were G. lamblia and E. Coli and of helminths were A. lumbricoides and T. trichiura. The correlation between the hygienic-sanitary and socioeconomic variables and the prevalence of intestinal parasites was analysed by use of the Chi square test. This study shows that even though the prevalence of intestinal parasites has decreased these infections are still an important health problem, at least in children, in tha anlized areas. Key words: intestinal parasites, brazilian school children, hygienic-sanitary survey, socioeconomic survey.