Soil-transmitted helminth egg contamination from soil of indigenous communities in selected barangays in Tigaon, Camarines Sur, Philippines

Objective: To provide baseline data on the prevalence and intensity of soil-transmitted helminthiasis egg contamination in the soil among indigenous communities. Methods: A total of 317 soil samples from three barangays of indigenous communities communities in Tigaon, Camarines Sur, Philippines were...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine
Main Authors: James Owen C Delaluna, Mary Jane C Flores, Vicente Y Belizario, Jose Isagani B Janairo, Derick Erl P Sumalapao
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2020
Subjects:
indigenous peoples
soil-transmitted helminths
ascaris
toxocara
trichuris
public health
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine
RC955-962
Arctic
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.4103/1995-7645.290585
https://doaj.org/article/991a32421b7642e28691b7850c1657f3
Description
Summary:Objective: To provide baseline data on the prevalence and intensity of soil-transmitted helminthiasis egg contamination in the soil among indigenous communities. Methods: A total of 317 soil samples from three barangays of indigenous communities communities in Tigaon, Camarines Sur, Philippines were examined for soil-transmitted helminthiasis egg contamination using optimized sugar flotation method. Results: Of the soil samples examined, 141 (44.48%) were contaminated by Ascaris spp., Toxocara spp., and Trichuris spp. with cumulative prevalence varying across the study sites (P<0.01). Ascaris spp. was predominant in all study sites, followed by Toxocara spp. and Trichuris spp. with a prevalence of 41.96%, 7.57%, and 5.36%, respectively. Interestingly, Toxocara pp. has the highest intensity of contamination, followed by Ascaris spp. and Trichuris spp. in term of geometric mean soil-transmitted helminthiasis eggs recovered per one gram soil sample (34.25, 21.45, and 11.85 respectively). Each study site harbors significant amount of soil-transmitted helminthiasis eggs and zoonotic Toxocara eggs, which present high risk of soil-transmitted helminthiasis infection, particularly among children observed to play and cohabitate with animals known to be hosts of these parasites. Conclusions: The alarming rate of soil-transmitted helminthiasis and Toxocara egg contamination reported in this study suggests that additional measures should be undertaken to control soil-transmitted helminthiasis and zoonotic intestinal infections in the country.

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