Prevalência e intensidade da infecção por parasitas intestinais em crianças na idade escolar na Cidade de Salvador (Bahia, Brasil) / Prevalence and intensity of infection by intestinal parasites in school-aged children in the City of Salvador (Bahia, Brazil)

As part of a major study to evaluate the relationship between environmental changes and occurrence of the infection, prevalence and intensity of infection by intestinal parasites was studied in a sample of school children aged 7 to 14 years living in the City of Salvador. The prevalence of infection by at least one species of protozoa or helminth was 66.1%. Prevalence of infection by helminths increased with age. For all helminth species male children presented the highest prevalence.

Como parte de um estudo para avaliar as relações entre mudanças ambientais e ocorrência de infecções, estudou-se a prevalência e intensidade de parasitas intestinais em uma amostra de crianças em idade escolar, residentes em Salvador. A prevalência de infectados por pelo menos um protozoário/helminto foi 66,1%. A prevalência da infecção por helmintos, se eleva com o aumento da idade das crianças, sendo os meninos mais intensamente infectados.

[The practice of breast feeding in rural communities of a semi-arid area of Bahia]. / Prática do aleitamento materno em comunidades rurals do semi-árido baiano.

A Research project in the establishment and duration of total and exclusive breast-feeding in rural communities of Cansação, BA, Brazil, is presented. It included 226 children, from zero to two years old, of families of peasants living on small-holdings in one of the driest and poorest regions of the Brazilian Northeast. The data were collected through questionnaires answered by mothers or any adult responsible for the child during 1988 and 1989. It relates to all children from these families who were two years of age at the time of the study. The survival time was the statistical method used to calculate the median duration of breast-feeding; 91.6% of the 226 children started to be breast-fed. This finding shows that the establishment of the breast-feeding was high. The median duration of total breast-feeding was of 90.28 days and exclusive breast-feeding presented a median duration of 0.1 day. Through the establishment of breast-feeding can be considered high, the median duration of total breast-feeding is extremely short and that of exclusive breast-feeding insignificant.