ABSTRACT
Children in the Peruvian Amazon Basin are at risk of soil-transmitted helminths (STH) infections. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of STH infection in children from a rural Amazonian community of Peru and to elucidate epidemiological risk factors associated with its perpetuation while on a school-based deworming program with mebendazole. Stool samples of children aged 2-14 years and their mothers were analyzed through direct smear analysis, Kato-Katz, spontaneous sedimentation in tube, Baermann's method, and agar plate culture. A questionnaire was administered to collect epidemiological information of interest. Among 124 children, 25.8% had one or more STH. Individual prevalence rates were as follows: Ascaris lumbricoides, 16.1%; Strongyloides stercoralis, 10.5%; hookworm, 1.6%; and Trichuris trichiura, (1.6%). The prevalence of common STH (A. lumbricoides, T. trichiura, and hookworm) was higher among children aged 2-5 years than older children (31.6% versus 12.8%; P = 0.01). In terms of sanitation deficits, walking barefoot was significantly associated with STH infection (OR = 3.28; CI 95% = 1.11-12.07). Furthermore, STH-infected children more frequently had a mother who was concomitantly infected by STH than the non-STH-infected counterpart (36.4% versus 14.1%, P = 0.02). In conclusion, STH infection is highly prevalent in children from this Amazonian community despite routine deworming. Institutional health policies may include hygiene and sanitation improvements and screening/deworming of mothers to limit the dissemination of STH. Further studies are needed to address the social and epidemiological mechanics perpetuating these infections.
Subject(s)
Feces/parasitology , Helminthiasis/epidemiology , Helminthiasis/transmission , Rural Population , Soil/parasitology , Adolescent , Animals , Anthelmintics/therapeutic use , Child , Child, Preschool , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Male , Mebendazole/therapeutic use , Mothers , Peru/epidemiology , Prevalence , Risk Factors , SanitationABSTRACT
Entre las bacterias poco comunes que causan Endocarditis infecciosa (EI), se encuentran el Streptococcus gordonii, conocido por su habilidad de colonizar y dañar las válvulas cardiacas. Asimismo, se conoce que el hallazgo de aneurisma complicado con fístula intracardiaca es infrecuente en EI, sólo se presenta en el 1,6% de pacientes. Se reporta el caso de un varón de 58 años con EI por Streptococcus gordonii complicada con aneurisma y fístula en la válvula mitral. (AU)
Streptococcus gordonii is a rare cause of infective endocarditis (IE) known for its ability to colonize and damage cardiac valves. Moreover, it is known that complicated aneurism with intracardiac fistula is an infrequent finding in IE, reported in1.6% of patients. We report the case of a 58 year old male patient with IE infected with Streptococcus gordonii and complicated with an aneurism and mitral valve fistula. (AU)