Ultrasonographic study of the biliary system in opisthorchiasis patients after treatment with praziquantel.

Ultrasonographic examination of the liver and biliary system using a portable ultrasound unit was performed in 1987 in 647 opisthorchiasis patients who had been treated with praziquantel during 1981 to 1986. Treatments was repeated annually in those reinfected. The reinfection rate was 53.9% in the first year and gradually declined. Ultrasonographic findings were normal in 80.6% of subjects. The most common abnormal finding was liver enlargement (14.8%), followed by dilatation of the gallbladder (3.5%), sludge formation (2.1%) and thickening of the wall of the gallbladder (1.0%). Gallstones were found in 7 cases (1.0%). Dilatation of intrahepatic bile ducts was detected in one subject (0.1%). The incidence of gallstones in treated patients was similar to that reported in a large necropsy series of the general population. Prospective studies will be needed to further investigation the association between opisthorchiasis, treatment and gallstone formation.

Mass treatment of opisthorchiasis in Northeast Thailand.

In an attempt to control opisthorchiasis, a single dose of 40 mg/kg of Praziquantel was given to 666 people in the three villages of Nam Pong Water Resource Development Project, Khon Kaen, Northeast Thailand. The results showed a cure rate after 1 month was 95.9%. The side effect was minimized by alternation of the time of treatment from after breakfast to after dinner. The use of Praziquantel for the mass treatment in control of opisthorchiasis is possible. However, to achieve the objective of control programme other measures such as environmental sanitation improvement, health education and change in eating habits must be integrated into the programme.

Socio-economic, health and nutritional status of the villagers in the Nong Wai irrigation area, Khon Kaen, Northeast Thailand.

Studies were carried out from June 1974 to May 1975 on the socio-economic status, health and nutritional status of the people in 4 villages, in the irrigation area of the Nong Wai Pioneer Agricultural Project of Khon Kaen Province, Northeast Thailand. The result obtained were compared with those in 2 non-irrigated villages in the same province, in order to identify the health and nutritional problems which might arise during the water resource development in the irrigation area. It was found that in the irrigated villages 90% of the peoples were farmers, while in the non-irrigated villages all were farmers. The socio-economic status of the people in the irrigated villages was much better than those in the non-irrigated ones. The income per family in the former was about three times greater than that in the latter. In the study of the health conditions of the villagers, the vulnerable age group including pre-school children under 7 years of age and school children in the elementary school class 1 and class 2, aged 7-9 years old, served as subjects for investigation. Haematological and physical examinations revealed many children with mild to moderate anaemia, vitamin B2 deficiency and a few cases of hepatomegaly. Anaemic children were found to be more prevalent in the non-irrigated villages than in the irrigated area. The overall parasitic infection rates in children in the irrigated and non-irrigated villages were similar with respect to severity of the infection. Hookworm infection, opisthorchiasis, strongyloidiasis and giardiasis were the leading parasitic infections, while amoebiasis was rare. Ascariasis and trichuriasis were not found. However, the first two helminthic infections had a low grade of intensity. The nutritional status of pre-school children, showed that there were more children with good growth in the irrigated villages than in the non-irrigated one. Serum proteins, albumin and globulin, and urinary urea nitrogen-creatinine ratio revealed normal findings indicating that the children had sufficient protein intake. The results of the urinary hydroxyproline-creatinine index suggested that many of the children in both groups of the villages were at marginal malnutrition status. Surveys on domestic animals including cattle, buffaloes, pigs, and field rats revealed no important zoonotic diseases except leptospirosis in a few rats. Some fish were found to harbour metacercariae of Opisthorchis viverrini, while some snails were positive for cercariae of O. viverrini, Schistosoma spindale, and Echinostoma malayanum. The overall findings indicated that the water resource development by establishing better irrigation, resulted in an improved socio-economic and nutritional status among the villagers, but health conditions and associated parasitic diseases and some nutritional deficiency still existed in the children. However, the findings from this study provide only preliminary data concerning the socio-economic status, health, and nutritional status of the villagers in the irrigation area...