iadian .7, P#dlalr. 45: 80, 1978
PREVALENCE OF INTESTINAL PAR~SITI(~ INFESTATIONS AMONG CHILDR ATTENDING HOSPITAL* SURAJ GUPI"E, Morn, o n PAL, C.I,. G u l . r ^ , AND R.R. Jos,t
,Tdnlmu Intestinal parasitic infestatlo,s are undoubtedly a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children of the third world. The magnitude of the problem and the relative incidence of individual infestations, however, vary from area to area, even in the same country. Over the years, one of us (SO) has been engaged in surveying North Indian children, especially, from this angle (Oupte 1974, Gupte. 1975, L;upte and Smith 1975, Gupte ,I a/. 1976). Since there is no previous report of the prevalence data from this region, the present communication documents our observations a: the S.M.G.S. Hospital, Jammu. Material and Methods
Series !. This conslsted of lO00 infants and c~.ildren, randomly selected, attending the paediatric outpatients' department or admitted to the paedlatric ward. Series 2. This comprised 500 infants and children with gastrointestinal and/or allied signs and symptom:, warranting hospitalization. Only one microscopic examination of stoo;s was done. The concentration technique was not employed. Observations Table 1 gives the age and sex incidence of the participating subjects. *From the Departments of Paediatrica and Patholol~)-, Government Medical College and S.M.G.S. Hospital, Jammu- 180001, Kashmir,
The incidence of various inrestation~ shown in Table 2. Discussion The survcy reported here has demo strated that 59 percent or the r a , d o m samp of 1000 infants and children attending th $.M.G.S. Hospital, Jammu, suffered from one or more intestinal parasitic infestatioa (Table 2). Among 600 symptomatic can in this sample the incidence was still higher in 75 per cent. Thi: figure almost approxl mates that obtained in our Series 2 of 500 infants and children suffering from gastro. intestinal and/or allied manirestaiiom (Table 2). A close examination of "Fable presenting compari.,on of data shows that the overall prevalence of intestinal infesta'lions, aithough incredibly high in Jammu. poses a serious challenge in all parts of the country That Ciardia l',mbIia and l'l).,:e,~olepi.,nana {dwarf tapeworm) are next only to threadworm in order of frequency in North Indian children is orspecial interest. Until recently, these infestations were considered to be harmless. Today, much evidence has accumulated in support of the contention that these are a cause of considerable ill health in the paediatric population (Gupte and Mehta 1971, WaliaetaL 1971, Gupte 1975). It is felt that nothing short of a come paign on a war-footiog will ensure prevention and control of the vital problem of worm infestation in Indian children.
87
01JFT~ I~I' AL.--PREVALr~NOE O1, INTEITINAL PARASITIC INFESTATIONSAMONG cHILDREN T a b l e 1.
A&e and u x distrib.~tion wf infants and childrtn,
I
Series 2
Series 1 Age Male
Female
Total
Male
Female
Total
k v
! '2_
8
20
5
5
I0
80
56
136
43
30
73
years
195
130
325
90
64
154
$to5 1ears
240
200
440
118
104
222
6 to I0 years
25
L4
39
13
6
19
11 to 14. years
25
25
50
12
I0
22
577
433
1000
281
219
500
Under 6 month.
6to 12 month,
1 to2
Total
T a b l e 2.
Incidence of parasi~ infestationJ. Series !
Series 2
P~ithogen
m
~o.
(%)
wo.
(%)
Protozoal I. Giardla lamblia
250
25.0
208
41.6
2. Ent. Aistolj~ica
!1
1.0
10
20
202 91 5 4 8
20.0 9.1 0.5 0.4 0.8
146 72 6 7 5
29.2 14-.2 1.2 1.4 1.0
199
20.0
190
38.0
i
Helminthic
!. Ascaris lumkriel~des 2. ,4nkylostoma clued,hale 3. Trichur, tric~iura 4. StronfO.loidts Itercoralis 5. Taenia soliu,n[sa&inata 6. H. nana 7. Overall inr
59
75.5
Note: Since special cellophane-tape technique ,,,,.as not used, threadworm infestation has not been included in this table. However, in our experience, over .'l/|~h of lhe infants and young children in Jammu suffer from this infestation.
88
tNmANjouatu,~, or ~zm^x~:cs
Table 3.
VOL. 45, No.
C'.omparison o.I data on or.rail prtval.v,c, of in#.s|inal infsstafo,u in various reg.ons.
Incidence Place of study
(%)
Author Random cases
Symptomatic caq m
Chandigarh
Gupte and Mehta (1971}, Gupte (1974)
39.4
50.8
Simla
Gilple (1974)
46.5
60.3
Simla Hills (Rural)
Gupte and Smith (1975)
50.6
63.5
Dalhousie Hills (Rural)
Gupte e# al. (L976)
6 ! .0
7g.8
Calcutta
Sen (1976)
42.5
57.6
Naspur
Despande (1976)
--
46.0
Bombay
Apse (1976)
40.3
50.5
.Tammu
Gupte eL al. Present study
59.0
75.5
The authon wilh to express their gratiludsto the Principal and Dean, Dr. N.S. Pathania, for permission to puhhsh this paper. Thanks are due to Dr. Saris'-'1 Gupte and various colleagues and staff at.embers for help in conducting this survey and compiling the data. References Apse, A.B. (1976). Personal communication. De-~hpande, D.N. (1976). Pensonal communication. Gupte, S. (1974). The challenge of intestinal parasitic infestations in children, h,d~an Pratt. 27, 3,55. Gupte, S. (1975). War on worms. Cou,rier. 43, 23 t.
Gupte, S. and Mchta, S. (ig7l). Factorl respo~ sible for producing morbidity and mortality in childre~ suffering from giardiasis. Report submitted to tl~ lnd!an Council of Medic~,l Research, New Delhi. Gupxe, S. and Smith. R. (1975). Intestinal parasi(es in Simla Hills (rural). Mad. mind 5w&. 15 28. Guple, S. Quereshi, Z. and Smith, R. (1976) Intestinal parasites in Dalhotaie tiiths (rural) Med. and Sin&. 16, 18. Sen, S.K. (1976).
Personal communication.
WMia, B.N.S., Gupte, S., Mehta, S. and Aggarwal, K.C. (1971). lndian T. M d . Rea. 59, 1948,
PREVALENCE OF INTESTINAL PAR~SITI(~ INFESTATIONS AMONG CHILDR ATTENDING HOSPITAL* SURAJ GUPI"E, Morn, o n PAL, C.I,. G u l . r ^ , AND R.R. Jos,t
,Tdnlmu Intestinal parasitic infestatlo,s are undoubtedly a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children of the third world. The magnitude of the problem and the relative incidence of individual infestations, however, vary from area to area, even in the same country. Over the years, one of us (SO) has been engaged in surveying North Indian children, especially, from this angle (Oupte 1974, Gupte. 1975, L;upte and Smith 1975, Gupte ,I a/. 1976). Since there is no previous report of the prevalence data from this region, the present communication documents our observations a: the S.M.G.S. Hospital, Jammu. Material and Methods
Series !. This conslsted of lO00 infants and c~.ildren, randomly selected, attending the paediatric outpatients' department or admitted to the paedlatric ward. Series 2. This comprised 500 infants and children with gastrointestinal and/or allied signs and symptom:, warranting hospitalization. Only one microscopic examination of stoo;s was done. The concentration technique was not employed. Observations Table 1 gives the age and sex incidence of the participating subjects. *From the Departments of Paediatrica and Patholol~)-, Government Medical College and S.M.G.S. Hospital, Jammu- 180001, Kashmir,
The incidence of various inrestation~ shown in Table 2. Discussion The survcy reported here has demo strated that 59 percent or the r a , d o m samp of 1000 infants and children attending th $.M.G.S. Hospital, Jammu, suffered from one or more intestinal parasitic infestatioa (Table 2). Among 600 symptomatic can in this sample the incidence was still higher in 75 per cent. Thi: figure almost approxl mates that obtained in our Series 2 of 500 infants and children suffering from gastro. intestinal and/or allied manirestaiiom (Table 2). A close examination of "Fable presenting compari.,on of data shows that the overall prevalence of intestinal infesta'lions, aithough incredibly high in Jammu. poses a serious challenge in all parts of the country That Ciardia l',mbIia and l'l).,:e,~olepi.,nana {dwarf tapeworm) are next only to threadworm in order of frequency in North Indian children is orspecial interest. Until recently, these infestations were considered to be harmless. Today, much evidence has accumulated in support of the contention that these are a cause of considerable ill health in the paediatric population (Gupte and Mehta 1971, WaliaetaL 1971, Gupte 1975). It is felt that nothing short of a come paign on a war-footiog will ensure prevention and control of the vital problem of worm infestation in Indian children.
87
01JFT~ I~I' AL.--PREVALr~NOE O1, INTEITINAL PARASITIC INFESTATIONSAMONG cHILDREN T a b l e 1.
A&e and u x distrib.~tion wf infants and childrtn,
I
Series 2
Series 1 Age Male
Female
Total
Male
Female
Total
k v
! '2_
8
20
5
5
I0
80
56
136
43
30
73
years
195
130
325
90
64
154
$to5 1ears
240
200
440
118
104
222
6 to I0 years
25
L4
39
13
6
19
11 to 14. years
25
25
50
12
I0
22
577
433
1000
281
219
500
Under 6 month.
6to 12 month,
1 to2
Total
T a b l e 2.
Incidence of parasi~ infestationJ. Series !
Series 2
P~ithogen
m
~o.
(%)
wo.
(%)
Protozoal I. Giardla lamblia
250
25.0
208
41.6
2. Ent. Aistolj~ica
!1
1.0
10
20
202 91 5 4 8
20.0 9.1 0.5 0.4 0.8
146 72 6 7 5
29.2 14-.2 1.2 1.4 1.0
199
20.0
190
38.0
i
Helminthic
!. Ascaris lumkriel~des 2. ,4nkylostoma clued,hale 3. Trichur, tric~iura 4. StronfO.loidts Itercoralis 5. Taenia soliu,n[sa&inata 6. H. nana 7. Overall inr
59
75.5
Note: Since special cellophane-tape technique ,,,,.as not used, threadworm infestation has not been included in this table. However, in our experience, over .'l/|~h of lhe infants and young children in Jammu suffer from this infestation.
88
tNmANjouatu,~, or ~zm^x~:cs
Table 3.
VOL. 45, No.
C'.omparison o.I data on or.rail prtval.v,c, of in#.s|inal infsstafo,u in various reg.ons.
Incidence Place of study
(%)
Author Random cases
Symptomatic caq m
Chandigarh
Gupte and Mehta (1971}, Gupte (1974)
39.4
50.8
Simla
Gilple (1974)
46.5
60.3
Simla Hills (Rural)
Gupte and Smith (1975)
50.6
63.5
Dalhousie Hills (Rural)
Gupte e# al. (L976)
6 ! .0
7g.8
Calcutta
Sen (1976)
42.5
57.6
Naspur
Despande (1976)
--
46.0
Bombay
Apse (1976)
40.3
50.5
.Tammu
Gupte eL al. Present study
59.0
75.5
The authon wilh to express their gratiludsto the Principal and Dean, Dr. N.S. Pathania, for permission to puhhsh this paper. Thanks are due to Dr. Saris'-'1 Gupte and various colleagues and staff at.embers for help in conducting this survey and compiling the data. References Apse, A.B. (1976). Personal communication. De-~hpande, D.N. (1976). Pensonal communication. Gupte, S. (1974). The challenge of intestinal parasitic infestations in children, h,d~an Pratt. 27, 3,55. Gupte, S. (1975). War on worms. Cou,rier. 43, 23 t.
Gupte, S. and Mchta, S. (ig7l). Factorl respo~ sible for producing morbidity and mortality in childre~ suffering from giardiasis. Report submitted to tl~ lnd!an Council of Medic~,l Research, New Delhi. Gupxe, S. and Smith. R. (1975). Intestinal parasi(es in Simla Hills (rural). Mad. mind 5w&. 15 28. Guple, S. Quereshi, Z. and Smith, R. (1976) Intestinal parasites in Dalhotaie tiiths (rural) Med. and Sin&. 16, 18. Sen, S.K. (1976).
Personal communication.
WMia, B.N.S., Gupte, S., Mehta, S. and Aggarwal, K.C. (1971). lndian T. M d . Rea. 59, 1948,
