Association of fascioliasis to nutritional status and enteroparasite coinfection in children

Abstract

Introduction: Fascioliasis is caused by the trematode Fasciola hepatica and affects herbivorous and omnivorous animals as well as humans. Schoolchildren are the most affected group, and the organ most commonly targeted is the liver. This parasite requires an intermediate reservoir and host to complete its biological cycle.

Objective: Determine the association of fascioliasis to nutritional status and enteroparasite coinfection in children.

Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2016 to April 2017 in the district of Santa María de Chicmo, Apurímac Region. The child population aged 6-16 years was composed of 2 172 individuals. The sample size was 435 children, and it was determined by simple random sampling. Additionally, in order for the sampling to be more efficient, the total sample size was distributed between the strata Primary E.I. and Secondary E.I., for 209 and 226 samples, respectively. However, 493 coprological and serological samples were proportionally taken from the total 23 educational institutions.

Results: Prevalence of fascioliasis was 5.3% (26/493; CI95%=3.2-7.4). The educational institutions with the highest prevalence were Taramba with 17.2% (5/29; CI95%= 5.9-35.8), Libertadores de América with 16.1% (5/31; CI95%= 5.5-33.7), Mariano Melgar with 15% (3/20; CI95%= 3.2-37.9) and Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe with 10.8% (4/37; CI95%= 3-25.4). No association was found between fascioliasis and nutritional anthropometric assessment or enteroparasite coinfection in children (p˃ 0.05).

Conclusions: Fascioliasis was not found to affect the nutritional status of children. On the other hand, the clinical signs attributed to fascioliasis also correspond to the high presentation of enteric parasites.