Negligible Egg Positive Rate of Enterobius vermicularis and No Detection of Head Lice among Orphanage Children in Busan and Ulsan, Korea (2014)

To determine whether pinworm infections and head lice infestations spread among children in orphanages, 117 children from 4 orphanages in Busan-si and Ulsan-si, Korea, were examined for enterobiasis and head lice infestation between January and February 2014. The overall rate of Enterobius vermicularis egg positivity was 0.85%, whereas none of the children had head lice infestations. The rate of pinworm infection was much lower among the orphanage children compared to the rates observed in previous studies among kindergarten and primary school students. Moreover, the risk factors for enterobiasis were less frequent among these subjects than previously reported. The personal hygiene and health of the orphanage children were supervised by a regular, employed nurse through a health education program. In conclusion, pinworm infection was efficiently controlled among the children in orphanages, and this might be related to good personal hygiene practices in Korea.

Intestinal parasitic infestations among children in an orphanage in Pathum Thani province.

Infection caused by intestinal parasites is still a common health problem especially in children from developing countries. Orphans are a group of underprivileged population in society. To evaluate the intestinal parasitic infections in children in an orphanage in Pathum Thani province, Thailand, stool samples were collected during a cross-sectional study in April 2001. Examination for intestinal parasites were performed by using simple smear, formalin-ether concentration, Boeck and Drbohlav's Locke-Egg-Serum (LES) medium culture and special staining (modified acid-fast and modified trichrome) techniques. A total of 106 pre-school orphans (60 males and 46 females), aged 10.0-82.0 months, were recruited for the study. There were 86 individuals (81.1%), 45 males and 41 females, infected with at least one parasite. Interestingly, most of the parasites identified were protozoa. Blastocystis hominis was found at the highest prevalence (45.2%). The infections caused by Giardia lamblia was 37.7 per cent and Entamoeba histolytica was 3.7 per cent. Other non-pathogenic protozoa found were Trichomonas hominis (39.6%), Entamoeba coli (18.8%), and Endolimax nana (3.7%). The only one case of helminth parasite detected was Strongyloides stercoralis (0.9%). The sensitivity for detection of B. hominis and T. hominis was increased by the LES culture technique. No history of diarrhea symptoms were recorded among these orphans. However, during the investigation, stools of all infected cases were noted for six characteristics including formed, soft, loose, mucous, loose-watery and watery. The present study emphasized the problems of protozoan infections among these orphans. Health educations as well as routine surveillance is necessary in order to control the infections.

Prevalence of enterobiasis and its incidence after blanket chemotherapy in a male orphanage.

A prospective observational study was conducted in a male orphanage to find out the prevalence of enterobiasis and its incidence after blanket chemotherapy using mebendazole. We found that the prevalence of enterobiasis was 28.9%. The incidence density of enterobiasis after blanket chemotherapy was 379.82 per 1,000 person-years which was quite high. We suggest that blanket chemotherapy should be repeated at every 6 months interval to control enterobiasis in orphanages.