Intestinal helminth infections caused by soil-transmitted helminths and schistosomes bring about the greatest burden of disease in poverty-stricken areas in the developing world. The most vulnerable group and the most significant contributors to disease transmission are the school-age children. While awaiting major improvements on sanitation, the recommended strategy for helminth control is school-based, teacher assisted, mass drug administration (MDA). However, millions of individuals worldwide remain afflicted with these diseases, and the Philippines is no different from many of the developing countries. The overall objective of this paper is to review current Philippine control programs and initiatives and offer evidence based recommendations for improvement. Discrepancies between parasitologic parameters and drug coverage rates pose significant challenges in the control and prevention of helminth infections in the country. School-based MDA may be scaled up after successful local initiatives, where teachers have direct participation in drug administration. There is also a need to involve the social science sector to help address the behavioral aspects of helminth control. Moreover, monitoring and evaluation of interventions through identification of success parameters will contribute to the optimization of school-based helminth control, and to strategies towards effective control of intestinal helminth infections as a public health problem in the country.
Ascaris ; Trichuris ; Schistosomiasis

This study was conducted to determine the effect of oxantel/pyrantel tablets, oxantel suspension, pyrantel dry syrup and pyrantel tablets against T. trichiurus and A. lumbricoides infections. Twenty-four cases of mixed infections of T. trichiurus and A. lumbricoides were treated with oxantel/pyrantel tablets at a single dose of 20 mg/kg of body weight, and 49 cases of single infection of T. trichiurus were administered oxantel suspension at a single dose of 15 mg/kg of body weight. On the other hand, single infection of A. lumbricoides in 18 cases was administered pyrantel dry syrup at a single dose of 5 mg/kg of body weight. In the above 91 cases, the negative conversion rate and the egg reduction rate of egg out-put before and after the drug administration were examined by the cellophane thick smear method and Stoll's egg counting technique. A follow-up examination was carried out 3-4 weeks after the drug administration. Other 59 cases of single and mixed infection of T. trichiurus and A. lumbricoides were examined by the cellophane thick smear method only and administered pyrantel tablets at a single dose of 2.5 mg/kg of body weight. The results were summarized as follows: The prevalence rates of T. trichiurus and A. lumbricoides infection in this study were 42.8% and 27.2% respectively by the cellophane thick smear method among 1,066 stool specimens. The egg negative conversion rate and the egg reduction rate in the administration of oxantel/pyrantel tablets at a single dose of 20 mg/kg body weight were 75.0% and 97.8% respectively in T. trichiurus infection and 100% each in A. lumbricoides. The egg negative conversion rate and the egg reduction rate in the administration of oxantel suspension at a single dose of 15 mg/kg body weight were 85.7% and 93.0% respectively in sinlge infection of T. trichiurus. The egg negative conversion rate and the egg reduction rate in the administration of pyrantel dry syrup at a single dose of 5 mg/kg body weight were 100% each in single infection of A. lumbricoides. The qualitative evaluation in cases of single and mixed infection of T. trichiurus and A. lumbricoides were by means of pyrantel tablets at a single dose of 2.5 mg/kg body weight, the cure being 100% against A. lumbricoides but 17.0% against T. trichiurus. There were no undesirable side effects in this study and oxantel suspension and pyrantel dry syrup were well accepted and tolerated.
parasitology-helminth-nematoda ; Trichuris trichiurus ; Ascaris lumbricoides ; chemotherapy ; oxantel ; pyrantel

Usually egg count technique has been employed to know the intensity of infestation of human intestinal helminths and to elucidate the effects of anthelmintics. Comparing the three egg count methods - Stoll's egg dilution method, Beaver's direct smear method and FHK counting board method - the authors reached the following results: As the result of application of the three methods to 75 Ascaris egg positives and 95 Trichocephalus egg positives, in the case of Ascaris eggs, the egg detection rate was 99 per cent by Stoll's method, 97 per cent by Beaver's method and was lowest by FHK method at 79 percent. Meanwhile, in Trichocephalus eggs, Stoll's method revealed 92 percent, Beaver's method 95 percent, and FHK method 95 percent, there being no noticeable differences. With regard to EPG, in counting Ascaris eggs, Stoll's method showed a value closest to the actual number of eggs, and the value revealed by FHK method was smaller than the actual number. As the result of comparing the coefficiencies of variation of the three egg counting methods, both in Ascaris eggs and Trichocephalus eggs, the FHK method showed the smallest, followed by Stoll's method and Beaver's method.
parasitology-helminth-nematoda ; Ascaris lumbricoides ; Trichuris trichiura ; diagnosis

The high incidence of intestinal parasites among the Korean people almost same as 40 years ago might be partly interpreted by the fact that they are all fond of raw vegetables cultivated on the farms fertilized with non-treated night soil. The cabbages, onions and radishes were collected from the five areas of Seoul vicinity and the number of parasites attached to those vegetables were investigated to compare with the results obtained 10 years ago by the same methods of sampling and examination as the present survey. The resultant findings were summarized as follows: The eggs of Ascaris, hookworm, Trichostrongylus and whipworm, rhabditoid larvae and filariform larvae of hookworms were detected from those vegetables. Additionally, a number of larvae of free living nematodes and morphologically undetermined eggs were also observed. The maximum number of parasites found from one vegetable were as follows: 16 Ascaris eggs on a cabbage, 27 hookworm eggs on an onion, 8 whipworm eggs on a cabbage, 68 filariform larvae of hookworm on an onion. The onions were highly contaminated by the number of parasites as much as 177.6 including the larvae of free living nematodes, the next being the cabbages with 25.3 and the radishes with 4.1 in average. No notable relationship was observed between the size of vegetables and the number of parasites attached to them. Ascaris eggs were found from 56 percent of all cabbages, 28 percent of the onions and 40 percent of the radishes; whipworm eggs were detected on 40 percent of radishes and the filariform larvae of hookworms were observed from 40 percent of onions examined. It may be concluded that there is no notable change in the number of parasites attached to the vegetables collected from the Seoul vicinity compared to the results investigated by the same method 10 years ago.
parasitology-helminth-nematoda-Ascaris ; hookworm ; Trichuris trichiura ; epidemiology ; vegetable

Mebendazole was tested for its efficacy in individual treatment and mass control of Trichuris trichiura infection in Korea. The results were as follows: The efficacy of mebendazole in 430 cases 3 weeks after treatment with mebendazole(100-1,200 mg) was not so satisfactory (15.0-64.0 and 24.6-95.2% in cure and egg reduction rates respectively). But it was observed that the higher the total dose of the drug the better the efficacy. The egg positive rate of the inhabitants in mass control programme by 600 mg mebendazole decreased form 40.0 to 5.6 % during one year, May 1982-May 1983, by repeated blanket mass chemotherapy every 3 months (in conventional regimen), while the decrease was less marked or unrecognizable in 3-month (signle or two divided doses), 6-month, 12-month interval and placebo control groups. From the results, it was concluded that, although mebendazole was not highly effective in individual treatment of T. trichiura infection, it was fairly useful in mass cotrol, by repeated mass chemotherapy every 3 months.
parasitology-helmith-nematoda ; trichuriasis ; Trichuris trichiura ; chemotherapy-mebendazole ; mebendazol

The parasitic infection patterns of the Joseon period have begun to be revealed in a series of paleoparasitological studies. However, parasitism prevailing during or before the Three Kingdom period is still relatively unexplored. In the present study, we therefore conducted parasitological examinations of soil and organic-material sediments precipitated upon human hipbone and sacrum discovered inside an ancient Mokgwakmyo tomb dating to the Silla Dynasty (57 BCE–660 CE). Within the samples, we discovered ancient Ascaris lumbricoides (eggs per gram [EPG], 46.6–48.3) and Trichuris trichiura (EPG, 32.8–62.1) eggs, the species commonly detected among Korean populations until just prior to the 1970s. These findings show that soil-transmitted parasitic infection among the Silla nobility might not have been uncommon. This is the first-ever report on the presence of ancient parasite eggs in the samples obtained from a Three Kingdom period tomb; and it also presents the earliest positive results for any of the ancient South Korean tombs paleoparasitologically examined to date.
Ascaris lumbricoides ; Eggs ; Humans ; Ovum ; Parasites ; Sacrum ; Soil ; Trichuris

A parasitic survey on vegetables collected from markets and vegetable gardens in Taegu area was conducted for the discovery of human parasitic eggs and larvae. Three species of vegetable, lettuce (Lactuca sativa), young radish(Raphanus sapivus) and Chinese cabbage (Brassica pekinensis) were selected. All vegetable leaves were washed with a hard brush, and then species of parasites and the approximate mean number of parasitic eggs per 200 grams of vegetable leaves were investigated. When vegetables collected from markets were examined, 5 species of parasite eggs (ascarid, trichurid, Trichostrongylus, Clonorchis and hookworms) and 2 larvae (filariform and rhabditoid ) were found. Furthermore, a number of eggs and larvae of undetermined species were also observed. Of the parasites studied, ascarid egg was found to be highest (49.0%), followed Trichostrongylus egg(18.0%) as well as filariform larva of hookworms (19.7%), and the least often observed was rhabditoid larva of hookworms(0.7%). The recovery rate of parasites among lettuce, young radish and Chinese cabbage collected from markets ranged from 23.2 to 91.9 percent and was similar to that from vegetable gardens, where Chinese cabbage showed the highest (91.1%) and lettuce being next(49.0%) in positivity of ascarid eggs. In the case of filariform larva, the rate of Chinese cabbage was twice as high as that of lettuce and young radish. There was a significant reduction in the rate of filariform larva, suggesting that a single washing of vegetables at the vegetable washing stand would reduce the number of parasites attached to vegetable leaves, when young radish washed at the stand was compared with that unwashed. In the monthly rate of parasites recovered from young radish, there was significant fluctuations between the eggs and filariform larva of hookworms. The mean number of ascarid egg per 200 grams of vegetable was 7.5 in young radishes, 3.1 in lettuces, and 0.5 in Chinese cabbages, in decreasing order. It is noteworthy that young radish contained more than 10 times more than Chinese cabbage. These results would seem to indicate that one of the important routes of infection is due to consumption of pickled young radishes in summer than pickled Chinese cabbages in winter.
parasitology-nematoda-trematoda ; Ascaris lumbricoides ; Trichuris trichiura ; Trichostrongylus orientalis ; Clonorchis sinensis ; hookworm ; epidemiology

We present a human infection with the canine whipworm, Trichuris vulpis, in a child suffering from rhinitis with a diagnosis of rhinitis. T. vulpis eggs resemble those of T. trichiura but they can be differentiated based on their morphological features and egg size, using micrometry with an ocular micrometer. T. vulpis eggs measured an average of 90 microm by 44 microm (range 86-99 microm by 38-47 microm). Prevalence of hookworms (28.1%), Toxocara canis (11.8%), and Trichuris vulpis (3.5%) was found in 292 fecal samples of dogs collected at the peri-domicile, which showed that the risk of infection was not only fortuitous. The treatment of canine whipworm infections is similar to that of T. trichiura infection. We recommend differentiation of the 2 species for their epidemiological and prevention implications.
Animals ; Child ; Feces/parasitology ; Female ; Humans ; Trichuriasis/diagnosis/*parasitology ; Trichuris/*isolation & purification/physiology

A total of 48 subjects harbouring Trichuris trichiura, Ascaris lumbricoides, hookworm and/or Enterobius vermicularis were treated with oxantel/pyrantel pamoate tablets (100 mg of each) in a single dose of 20 mg base per kg of body weight. In all 37 cases of A. lumbricoides and 8 cases of A. duodenale infections cured completely, and the mean recovered worm-load was 3.8 with a range of 1-21 and 5.8 with a range of 3-9 respectively. In T. trichiura infection, 32(71.1%) of 45 cases cured completely and the average egg reduction rate was 90.8 per cent. The mean recovered worm-load was 14.6 with a rnage of 1-77 worms. On the other hand, in E. vermicularis infection, 37 (84.1 %) of 44 patients were negative eggs by anal swab tests on the 10 to 11th days and 27 (61.4%) on the 20 to 21st days after treatment. The mean recovered worm-load was 17.7 with a range of 1-62. Only one patient with Trichostrongylus orientalis treated with this drug showed no eggs in his stools throughout the post-treatment examinations. Side effects were not noted in all treated cases. These findings demonstrate that a single dose of oxantel/pyrantel pamoate tablets can be considered a drug of choice for multiple infections with these nematodes.
parasitology-helminth-nematoda ; Trichuris trichiura ; Ascaris lumbricoides ; hookworm ; Enterobius vermicularis ; chemotherapy ; oxantel/pyrantel pamoate

A paleoparasitological study was carried out on 2 lead coffins recovered from the Roman site of Jaunay-Clan (near Poitiers, France). For the first time, this particular type of burial gave positive parasitological results, and eggs of the whipworm Trichuris trichiura were identified in 1 individual. In the present case, thanatomorphose associated with funerary practices may explain the scarcity of the recovered eggs. However, human whipworm has now been observed in 9 individuals dated to the Roman period. The very high frequency of Trichuris sp. eggs in Roman archaeological sites (up to 80%) suggests that fecal peril, hygiene, and waste management were problematic during this period. Finally, due to the fact that very few analyses have been conducted on human bodies dated to the Roman period, more analyses must be performed in the future to provide further information about diseases in the Roman world.
Burial ; Eggs ; France* ; Human Body ; Humans* ; Hygiene ; Ovum ; Roman World ; Trichuriasis* ; Trichuris ; Waste Management