A study on the intestinal helminths of the patients in a leprosarium in Korea

ABSTRACT

A total of 2,026 leprosy patients of the National Sorokdo Hospital was examined their intestinal parasites by cellophane thick smear method in January 1983. The egg positive cases of Taenia spp. were treated with bithionol and the segments of Taenia were collected for species identification. The results were as follows Total egg positive rate of any kind helminth was 78.2 percent and cumulative total was 85.2 percent. The egg positive rate for each helminth was as follow; Taenia spp. 3.4 percent, Ascaris lumbricoides 4.5 percent, Trichuris trichiura 72.l percent, Clonorchis sinensis 2.8 percent and other 0.05 percent. A total of 66 Taenia egg positive cases was treated; out of them proglottids of Taenia were collected from 26 cases. All of the collected worms were identified as T. saginata. The results revealed significantly high egg positive rate of T. trichiura. However, A. lumbricoides was found to be controlled considerably by repeated chemotherapy during past 3 years. If chemotherapeutic agent is replaced with oxantel-pyrantel tablet, better result is expected. No clue was found for prevalence of T. solium from both human and the pig in the island.