CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

We analyzed intestinal parasitic infections in 120 children aged 1 to 12 years from a suburban neighborhood in La Plata, Argentina and determined the correlations with their nutritional status and socioenvironmental conditions. We performed parasitological analyses on fecal samples obtained with anal swabs; employing the techniques of Ritchie, Carles Barthelemy, Willis, and Kato Katz along with following indicators for assessment nutritional status: weight for age, height for age, and weight for height. We evaluated the environment through an analysis of samples of soil, water, and canine feces present and surveyed other domestic and environmental data using structured questionnaires to each child´s parents. To associate the parasitological results with anthropometric and socioenvironmental variables, we conducted a categorical analysis of the principal components of the socioenvironment (catPCA). Of the 120 individuals analyzed, 85.8% were parasitized, 79.6% were hyperparasitized, and 55% presented with undernourishment. We also found parasites in 42% of the dog feces, 53% of the soil samples, and commensal amoebae in the water samples. Correlations resulting among the socioenvironmental variables in the first dimension of the catPCA allowed a distribution of observations along a gradient interpreted as a socioenvironmental variable (SEV). This SEV was mainly associated with geohelminths and short stature for age, mostly among children with positive values within dimension 1 of SEV. Precarious housing conditions, the lack of sanitary installations, and a population with a high and chronic state of undernourishment all contribute to a favorable ecosystem for the development and transmission of intestinal parasites within this population.