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INTESTINAL PARASITIC INFECTIONS AMONG PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN IN SANGKHLABURI, THAILAND

This study was conducted to investigate the presence of intestinal parasites among pre-school children (aged 3 months to 5 years) in Sangkhlaburi, a rural district in the west of Thailand along the Thai-Myanmar border. Stool specimens were collected from October 2001 through October 2002. A total of 472 pre-school children, 233 males and 239 females, 236 children with diarrhea and 236 asymptomatic children were recruited for the study. Each specimen was processed and examined by direct wet smear, modified acid fast stain, formalin-ethylacetate sedimentation concentration technique, and trichrome stain. In detecting Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium species ProSpecT Microplate assays (Alexon-Trend, Lenexa, KS) were performed. There were 107 individuals (22.7%), 41 diarrheal and 66 asymptomatic children, infected with intestinal parasites. The most frequent parasites identified in cases and controls were G. lamblia and Cryptosporidium spp. Eighteen specimens (3.8%) showed mixed parasite infections. Highest proportion of intestinal parasites occurred during the rainy season (June–October).

Received January 31, 2006. Accepted for publication August 14, 2006.

Acknowledgments: The authors thank the staff at Kwai River Christian Hospital (KRCH) and Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS) Department of Enteric Diseases.

Financial support: United States Department of Defense Global Emerging Infections System (GEIS), Washington, DC.

Disclaimer: The opinions, interpretations, conclusions, and recommendations expressed here are those of the authors and not necessarily endorsed by the U.S. Army.

^* Address correspondence to Boonchai Wongstitwilairoong, Department of Enteric Diseases, AFRIMS, 315/6 Rajavithi Road, Phyathai, Bangkok 10400 Thailand. E-mail: boonchaiw{at}afrims.org

Authors’ addresses: Boonchai Wongstitwilairoong, Apichai Srijan, Oralak Serichantalergs, Caroline D. Fukuda, Ladaporn Bodhidatta, and Carl J. Mason, Department of Enteric Diseases, Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS), 315/6 Rajavithi Road, Phyathai, Bangkok 10400 Thailand, E-mail: boonchaiw{at}afrims.org. Philip McDaniel, 275 SW 130th Avenue, Beaverton, OR 97005, E-mail: philmcd{at}concentric.net.

Reprint requests: Boonchai Wongstitwilairoong, Department of Enteric Diseases, AFRIMS, 315/6 Rajavithi Road, Phyathai, Bangkok 10400 Thailand, Telephone: 66-2-644-4888 extension 2580-1, Fax: 66-2-644-4980, E-mail: boonchaiw{at}afrims.org.