Infección por protozoos y helmintos intestinales en escolares de sectores ribereños, con distintos niveles de contaminación fecal, del río Valdivia, Chile / Infection by intestinal protozoa and helminths in school children from riverside sectors, with different fecal contamination levels, of Valdivia river, Chile

During 1993, the prevalences of infection by intestinal protozoa and helminths (IPG) in the riverside schoolchildren population of two sectors of Valdivia river, with different levels of fecal contamination, were compared in relation to their contact with river water (swimming, bathing) and basical sanitation elements (BSE) of their houses: ceses and garbage disposal, and water supply., Populations of children from sectors A (n = 418), with significatively greater (SG) total coliform most probable number (MPN), and sector B (n = 400), were examined. PAFS test was used for the stool examination of one sample, from each child. The global prevalence of infection by IPH was similar in A (74.8 percent) and B (72.5 percent) sectors.From 10 identified IPH, only Entamoeba histolytica and Hymenolepis nana showed prevalences of infection SG in sector A, than in sector B. The contact of the children with the water of the river showed association with SG prevalences for E. histolytica, Entamoeba coli and Endolimax nana in sector B and for E. histolytica in sector A. No sanitary condition for the different BSE contributed to SG prevalences for E. histolytica, Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura in both sectors, and for E. coli in sector B. The contact with the river water and the different BSE contributed to prevalences SG in 5 and 3 IPH in sectors B and A, respectively. The results suggest that a projetc in study for the development of a treatment plant of wastewater in sector A, could contribute to control infection by IPH. But, this measure must be associated with improvement of the BSE, health education, and application of chemotherapy measures for geohelminthosis in both sectors

Situación del agua de consumo humano y evacuación de excretas en América Latina y el Caribe / Situation of consumption human water and excreta evacuation in Latin America and Caribe

Se presentan los avances en cobertura de agua para consumo humano (ACH) y evacuación de excretas (EE) de los países de América Latina y el Caribe, en el año 2000. Además, se indica la situación actual de Costa Rica con respecto a la calidad del agua de bebida y a la misma evacuación de excretas. Los resultados de la investigación indican que los países con mayor cobertura de ACH son: Barbados (100 por ciento), Bahamas (95 por ciento), Costa Rica (95 por ciento) y Cuba (92 por ciento). Lamentablemente, debido a que los organismos internacionales sólo reportaron la cobertura y no la calidad del agua de consumo humano, fue imposible comparar la situación de Costa Rica con los otros países de la región; sin embargo, los datos del Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (A y A) indican que del 65 al 68 por ciento de la población costarricense (2.500.000 habitantes) recibe agua de calidad potable en 1995