Dados do Trabalho

Título

Epidemiological Shifts in Intestinal Parasitic Infections in Rural Feira de Santana: Analyzing Five Years of Progress

Introdução

Introduction: Enteric parasitoses represent a significant public health problem, especially in rural areas of developing countries, with geohelminthiases considered by the World Health Organization as neglected tropical diseases.

Objetivo (s)

Objective: To verify the occurrence of enteroparasitoses in the rural population of Feira de Santana, Bahia, analyze associated epidemiological factors, and compare the prevalence in two periods.

Material e Métodos

 Material and Methods: The study period covered the years 2013/2014, with 348 samples, and the year 2018, with 225 samples collected during the SummerClass Field Epidemiology event, analyzed using the Gordon method at the Clinical and Parasitology Analysis Laboratory of the State University of Feira de Santana. The results were tabulated in Microsoft Excel, univariate analysis was performed in EpiInfo 7.2, and logistic regression in Statistica 14.1. Spatial scanning using the Bernoulli model was applied for the detection of spatiotemporal clusters in SaTScan 10.1.

Resultados e Conclusão

 Results: In the period 2013-2014, 122 (35.06%; 95% CI: 30.23-40.21) samples were positive for coprological examination, with 33 (9.48%; 95% CI: 6.84-13.02) positive for parasites such as hookworms (n=20, 5.75%, 95% CI: 3.75-8.71), Giardia intestinalis, and Entamoeba histolytica (n=7, 2.01%; 95% CI: 0.98-4.09). The most frequent commensal was Entamoeba coli, present in 68 samples (19.54%; 95% CI: 15.72-24.03). Sixteen variables were selected for logistic regression, where only contact with manure was significantly associated with geohelminth infection (OR=29.35). Spatial scanning analysis revealed a cluster of positive cases in the southern region of the rural district, encompassing 13 (31.7%) cases in a total population of 41 people with a relative risk of 5.23 (P-value = 0.021). In 2018, three (1.33%; 95% CI: 0.48-3.83) samples were positive, with hookworms found in two (0.89%; 95% CI: 0.11-3.17) samples and Entamoeba histolytica in one sample (0.44%; 95% CI: 0.48-3.83). Conclusion: The variation in results between the two periods, in a representative sample of the rural district population, reveals the effectiveness of control actions aimed at reducing parasitic infections carried out by the Basic Health Unit team.

Palavras Chave

Key-words: Neglected parasitic diseases; field epidemiological analysis; rural health interventions.