ABSTRACT
The purpose of this research is to carry out an epidemiological characterization of the different types of parasitosis detected in the city of Bahía Blanca (Argentina) (1994 to 1999). To this end, the prevalence of: enteroparasitosis, trichomonosis, toxoplasmosis, Chagas disease, malaria, hydatidosis, toxocarosis, cysticercosis, and trichinellosis in human beings is reported in this study. Furthermore, the frequency and spectrum of the parasites found in the dogsï excrements collected from the public thoroughfare as well as parasitism rates in the vegetables from the truck farms of the city are also included in the present study. The high rates of enteroparasitosis in human beings ranging from 28 percent to 87.9 percent depending on the areas of study, those in dogsï excrements reaching a percentage of 33.1 percent, and the presence of vegetables from fully contaminated truck farms are indicative of a serious intestinal parasite-transmission problem in the city of Bahía Blanca urging for preventive measures in order to minimize this situation