RESUMO
Background: the prevalence of infection with bowel parasites is still remarkably high in children of developing countries. Day-care units usually serve for the infants and children as their primary site of social contact; so we aimed to determine the frequency rate of bowel infections h1 children attending these places, on their arrival and comparing it with this frequency 4-6 months afterwards
Methods and Materials: in this descriptive-analytic longitudinal study performed during the latter half of 1378, a total of 853 children of 4-6 years were randomly selected from day-care units of different regions in Zahedan. After recording the demographic data, a direct stool exam scatch test and formaline-etter test were done. In the first stage 411 and in the next stage [4-6 months later] 438 children were studied. Chi-square test was used to compare the injection rate between the first and second stages
Results: the rate of infected children was 19. 1% and 42% in the first and the second stages respectively. The highest increase in infection rate belonged to Oxyuris which increased from 4. 7% in stage one to 15.5% in stage two. The rate of infection with Giardia lambelia and Hemonolepsis nana was 10.6% and 3.1% in stage one, which respectively raised to 15% and 4.6% in stage two. The above_ increment was significant [P<0.05]. Totally 835 children all younger than 6 years old were studied in the two stages of which 263 [30.8%] had at least one type of infection. The frequency of infection with Oxyuris was 78 in 785 prepared slides
Conclusions: considering the life cycle of bowel parasites and their routes of transmission, it seems that we face shortness in knowledge of workers in day-care centers and also an insufficiency in practice of sanitary principles. A closer study of effective factors in transmission of infestation in these centers and their elimination, periodically testing the children and their care-givers, and finally programs of hygiene education and control for the workers seems a necessity