Prevalencia de parasitosis intestinal en niños de 6 a 12 años que acuden a consulta de pediatría del Hospital Básico de Durán en el periodo 2017-2021.

Abstract

Introduction: Parasitosis are intestinal infections that can be caused due to the ingestion of diverse infective forms of parasites like cysts, eggs, or worm larvae. Various epidemiological factors contribute to the spread of these parasites, such as poor hygiene habits like inappropriate hand washing, environmental conditions, and poor sanitary hygiene conditions for example the lack of clean drinking water. Its impact on health is related to the development of anemia, protein, and iron deficiency, and in the end deterioration of the child's nutritional, physical, and cognitive status. Objective: To determine the prevalence of intestinal parasitosis in children aged 6 to 12 years who attended the Pediatric clinic of Duran Hospital in the 2017-2021 term. Materials and methods: Descriptive, observational, and cross-sectional study. The clinical records of the AS400 system of Duran Hospital of those patients treated during the 2017-2021 term were used as a data source. Results: Five hundred forty-five patients were analyzed, and the prevalence of parasitosis was 7%. There was a total of 64% of patients with a positive result in the coproparasite test; 30% of the cases turned out to be Blastocystis Hominis, followed by 24% with Entamoeba Coli, and 17% of the total sample had two different types of parasites as a result: Giardia Lamblia and Entamoeba Histolytica. More cases of parasitosis were found in the female sex with 52% than in the males with 48%. However, the children aged 6-9 years had a higher percentage of parasites. Conclusion: The data obtained from Duran Hospital allowed us to determine that the prevalence of intestinal parasitosis in children aged 6 to 12 years was 7%. There is no predominance of sex in the pathology studied, and the range age most affected was 6-9 years, comprising more than 50% of the sample in total.