A community study on the age and sex related prevalence, intensity infection and frequency distribution of Ascaris, Trichuris and hookworm was carried out in 205 Orang Asli (Aborigines) children (95 boys, 110 girls) aged 1-13 years. The overall prevalence of Ascaris, Trichuris and hookworm was 62.9%, 91.7% and 28.8%, respectively. Almost two-thirds of the children were infected with moderate and severe intensity infection of Trichuris, 46.3% had moderate to severe intensity infection of Ascaris. However only 1.5% had moderate intensity of hookworm infection. The prevalence and mean intensity infection (measured by eggs per g) of Ascaris was age-dependent; lower in age group 1-4 years reached peak and stable at age group 5 years and above. The prevalence of Trichuris was high in all age groups and it fluctuated with age; the mean intensity of infection of Trichuris (measured by eggs per g) was age-dependent. Hookworm infection also rose with age and reached peak at 5-6 years, following that the prevalence declined. The frequency distributions of Ascaris, and hookworm were overdispersed. A strong positive correlation (p < 0.001) were observed between Ascaris and Trichuris and between hookworm and Trichuris. A positive correlation (p < 0.01) were also observed between Ascaris and hookworm.
Data on soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections and reinfection among Orang Asli (aborigine) schoolchildren and their nutritional and socioeconomic status were analyzed to investigate the pattern and the possible predictors of STH reinfection. In this longitudinal study, 120 (60 males and 60 females) Orang Asli primary schoolchildren aged 7-12 years and living in remote areas in Pos Betau, Kuala Lipis, Pahang were screened for the presence of STH using modified cellophane thick smear and Harada Mori techniques. The overall prevalence of ascariasis, trichuriasis and hookworm infections were 65.8, 97.5 and 10.8%, respectively. After complete deworming with a 3-day course of 400mg/daily of albendazole tablets, children were re-examined at 3 and 6 months from baseline. The reinfection rate, by one or more of STH species, at 3 months after deworming was high (49.5%) while 79.6% of the children were reinfected at 6 months after deworming. Logistic regression analyses showed that females, stunted children and those living in houses without toilets had significantly higher reinfection rates than others at 3 months (P<0.05). At 6 months, maternal employment status emerged as another predictor where children of working mothers had significantly higher reinfection rates (P=0.026). In conclusion, reinfection rate of STH is high and thus necessitates frequent and periodic deworming among children. Public health personnel need to re-look at the current control measures and identify innovative and integrated ways in order to reduce STH significantly in the rural communities.
Anthropometric and parasitological data from cross-sectional studies of two groups of primary school children (Group I of Indian origin, 325 boys and 259 girls, age = 7 years; Group II of Malay origin, 284 boys and 335 girls, age = 7-9 years) from two different ecological settings in Peninsular Malaysia were examined for epidemiological evidence of an association between hookworm infection and protein-energy malnutrition. In both ecological groups, significant weight, height and haemoglobin deficits were observed in children with hookworm infection after adjustment for covariables including Ascaris and Trichuris infection intensities and other child and family characteristics. The deficits were related to the intensity of infection based on egg counts. These findings suggest that hookworm may be an important determinant of chronic protein-energy malnutrition, as well as anaemia, in areas where diets are generally inadequate in protein, energy, and iron. Well-controlled intervention studies are needed to confirm these observations.
1. Seventy-seven cases of tropical ulcer were studied in the General Hospital, Johore.
2. Age was found to be an important factor in the incidence and duration of the disease.
3. One or more debilitating factors could always be established. After removal of these factors, the ulcer in many cases tended to heal.
4. The course of the ulcer is divided into three stages. Stage I is the spreading stage. In Stage II, a mild sloughing occurs within the original boundaries of the ulcer. This is a chronic stage. In stage III, there is either a stationary or a healing ulcer.
5. Treatment for the first stage is mainly directed towards the general condition of the patient. In the second stage the associated debilitating factors are treated. In cases which do not respond to these measures we tried many forms of treatment. Of these, the most rational seems to be application of strong antiseptics to the sloughs themselves. We have used quinine, as recommended by Innes for this purpose, and we have obtained very satisfactory results in a small series of obstinate cases. Stage III is treated by the application of elastic adhesive bandage.
A survey of malnutrition and helminth infections among 268 pre-school children living in the Kuala Betis Orang Asli resttlement villages in Kelantan. The prevalence of helminth infections was 47.4% with Ascaris lumbricoides being the most common helminth (43.9%), followed by Trichuris trichiura (29.7%) and hookworm (6.3%). The prevalence of Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura infections increased with age, with the highest prevalence found in the 6-7 years age group. The overall prevalence of stunting, underweight and wasting were 61.7%, 60.4% and 17.5% respectively. Both stunting and underweight were significantly higher among the infected children. Factors associated with helminth infections in the pre-school children were older age group, poor water supply and households with more than 5 members. Rountine regular deworming is recommended based on the World Health Organisation recommendations for school children.
The gastrointestinal helminth infection status of 1574 children living in a slum area of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was assessed by quantitative coprology. Almost two-thirds were infected with Trichuris trichiura, 49.6% with Ascaris lumbricoides, and 5.3% with hookworm. Infection prevalence rose rapidly to a stable asymptote at 7 years of age, and the age-intensity profile was convex with maximal values in the 5-10 year age classes. This pattern was the same for males and females, but differed markedly between different ethnic groups. The frequency distributions of A. lumbricoides and T. trichiura were highly overdispersed (k values were 0.21 and 0.27, respectively), and age-dependent over the 0-8 year age classes. This suggests that the force of infection with these nematodes is lower in infants than in older children.
Albendazole, a benzimidazole derivative, was administered as a single dose of either 400 mg or 600 mg to two groups to ascertain the efficacy, tolerance and safety of the regimens. At a dose of 400 mg, a cure rate 35/36 (97%) against Ascaris was found. At 600 mg, the cure rate was 21/30 (70%), significantly lower than the 400 mg rate. Against Trichuris, albendazole at 400 mg had a cure rate of 21/48 (44%), at 600 mg there was a cure rate of 29/43 (67%). Mild side effects were noted in 7 individuals. Whether the moderate increase in efficacy against Trichuris and the loss of efficacy against Ascaris improves the cost:benefit ratio must be left to the prescriber of the drug.
Species identification of human hookworm infections among eight communities in rural areas of Peninsular Malaysia was determined during 2009-2011. Fecal samples were examined by microscopy and subsequently, the internal transcribed spacer 2 and 28S ribosomal RNA region of Necator americanus and Ancylostoma spp. were sequenced. Overall, 9.1% (58 of 634) were identified positive by microscopy for hookworm infection, and 47 (81.0%) of 58 were successfully amplified and sequenced. Sequence comparison found that N. americanus (87.2%) was the most predominant hookworm identified, followed by Ancylostoma ceylanicum (23.4%). No A. duodenale infection was detected in this study. Detection of A. ceylanicum in humans highlighted the zoonotic transmission among humans living near dogs. Thus, implementation of effective control measures for hookworm infections in future should seriously consider this zoonotic implication.
Soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH), among the most common neglected tropical diseases, is a major public health problem in Malaysia with a possible impact on the nutritional status and school participation of rural children. This study was carried out among Aboriginal schoolchildren, living in an endemic area for STH in Malaysia, to determine the possible relationship between intestinal helminthiasis and school absenteeism. We also evaluated whether successful treatment of the infection will affect school attendance among the subjects. Stool analysis revealed that more than 90% of the subjects were infected with at least 1 helminth species, with Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura infections being most prevalent. Infection of moderate-to-heavy worm burdens, low level of fathers' education and anaemia were identified as the significant predictors of high absenteeism among the subjects (P<0·05). Following treatment of the infected children, it was found that school absenteeism was reduced significantly (P<0·01). In conclusion, STH continues to have significant impacts on public health, particularly in rural communities with a negatively significant effect on the school participation of Aboriginal children. A school-based de-worming programme should be introduced and incorporated in the current educational assistance targeted towards the Aboriginal communities, under the auspices of the government.
This study aims to determine the prevalence of protein-energy malnutrition and its association with soil-transmitted helminthiases in Orang Asli (Aborigine) children in Selangor, Malaysia. The results obtained from 368 children aged 2-15 years showed that the overall prevalence of mild and significant underweight was 32.1% and 56.5% respectively. The prevalence of mild stunting was 25.6% while another 61.3% had significant stunting. The overall prevalence of mild and significant wasting was 39.0% and 19.5% respectively. The overall prevalence of ascariasis, trichuriasis and hookworm infection were 61.9%, 98.2% and 37.0% respectively and of these 18.9%, 23.5% and 2.5% of the children had severe infection of the respective helminthes. The overall prevalence of giardiasis was 24.9%. The present study vividly shows that stunting and underweight are highly prevalent among Orang Asli children and therefore of concern in this community. In this population intestinal parasitic infections, especially severe trichuriasis and giardiasis, were identified as the main predictors of stunting and wasting respectively, in addition to age between 2 to 6 years.
Geohelminthiasis is a worldwide problem, especially in low-income countries. Children from rural areas and those living in poverty, lacking basic health amenities and having poor environmental sanitation are likely to be affected. Adverse effects such as anemia, protein malnutrition, colitis are common which can affect both the children's physical and mental growing development. A cross-sectional study on geohelminthiasis was conducted among children from 238 households in 13 villages in Kota Marudu of northern Sabah, East Malaysia. The study involved interviewing villagers using questionnaires to collect demographic and socio-economic data, getting faecal samples from the children, collecting soil samples and identifying parasite eggs with microscopy and molecular methods. A total of 407 children (6 months-17 years old) enrolled in the study. Geohelminthiasis was detected in the faecal samples of children from 54% (7/13) of the villages with mean prevalence of infection per village of 9.0% (0%-34.9%). On a household basis, 18% (43/238) of the households sampled had infected children, with mean prevalence rate per household of 11% (0%-43%). The prevalence was for Ascaris lumbricoides: 9.6% (39/407), Trichuris trichiura: 2.7% (11/407) and hookworms (Necator americanus and Ancylostoma sp.): 2.7% (11/407). The overall mean infection rate of the children examined was 14.3%. Significantly higher prevalence was recorded for the children of mothers who did not have any formal education (p = 0.003); household income of less than USD119 (RM500) (p<0.001); children from homes without proper sanitation facilities (p<0.001); children who usually go about barefoot (p<0.001) and not washing feet before entering the house (p = 0.017). Soil samples were found to have geohelminth eggs or larvae which could be due to unhygienic sanitation practices. This study shows the geohelminthiasis is prevalent in the villages, and the risk factors are lack of maternal education, low income, poor sanitation facilities and irregular deworming practice. Expanding deworming coverage in the study region may help reduce the worm infections in these communities, so that the mental and physical development of the children would not be affected by geohelminthiasis. The data on the prevalence of geohelminthiasis in this study would contribute to better public health monitoring and operation to reduce the infection in rural areas.
With the establishment of the International Health Commission in 1913, the Rockefeller Foundation sought governmental partnerships overseas to combat hookworm disease and improve feces disposal practices. In the Madras Presidency in British India, the India Research Fund Association carried out hookworm surveys but failed in its educational efforts to improve feces disposal practices. In British Malaya, the Uncinariasis [Hookworm] Commission to the Orient discovered a syndemic of anemia among Tamil plantation laborers from the Madras Presidency and Chinese laborers from southern China who suffered from hookworm and malarial co-infections. Confronted with the apparent infeasibility of improving feces disposal practices and the obdurate fact of re-infection with hookworm after purgative treatment, the Rockefeller Foundation ended its hookworm initiative in British Malaya without advocating for programmatic intervention against syndemic anemia. The essay concludes with a reflection on the engagement of historians with the syndemic paradigm.
A cross-sectional study on helminthiasis among rural primary schoolchildren aged 9 to 10 years Bachok, Kelaritan was perfumed. A total of 680 schoolchildren participated in the study. Stool specimens were examined for the presence of the ova of Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and hoolcwonn. The worm load was then measured using the modified Stoll`s volumetric dilution
technique. The overall prevalence of helminthiasis was 77 .2%. Trichuris trichiura were the commonest type of heminth noted - 66.8%, compared with Ascaris lumlrricoides (49.7%) and hookworm (1.8%). Mixed infections with Ascaris lumlyricoides and Trichuris trichiura was the commonest type of infection 249(41 .5%) . For Ascaris lumbncoides, 34.6% had mild and 5 I .3% had moderate worm load while for Trichurb trichiura, 66.5% had mild and 30.8 % had moderate worm load. Only 14.1% and 2.7% 4 of the schoolchildren had a heavy load of Ascaris lumlwicoides and Trichuris trichiura respectively. All the schookhildren with hookworm were only mildly infected. Targeted mass treatment for rural Mahysian schoolchildren is still essential, especially in areas where poverty and malnutrition are still prevalent.
Hookworm infections are still endemic in low and middle income tropical countries with greater impact on the socioeconomic and public health of the bottom billion of the world's poorest people. In this study, a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) coupled with high resolution melting-curve (HRM) analysis was evaluated for an accurate, rapid and sensitive tool for species identification focusing on the five human hookworm species.
Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections of humans fall within the World Health Organization's (WHO) grouping termed the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). It is estimated that they affect approximately 1.4 billion people worldwide. A significant proportion of these infections are in the population of Southeast Asia. This review analyses published data on STH prevalence and intensity in Southeast Asia over the time period of 1900 to the present to describe age related patterns in these epidemiological measures. This is with a focus on the four major parasite species affecting humans; namely Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and the hookworms; Necator americanus and Ancylostoma duodenale. Data were also collected on the diagnostic methods used in the published surveys and how the studies were designed to facilitate comparative analyses of recorded patterns and changes therein over time. PubMed, Google Scholar, EMBASE, ISI Web of Science, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and the Global Atlas of Helminth Infections search engines were used to identify studies on STH in Southeast Asia with the search based on the major key words, and variants on, "soil-transmitted helminth" "Ascaris" "Trichuris" "hookworm" and the country name. A total of 280 studies satisfied the inclusion criteria from 11 Southeast Asian countries; Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam. It was concluded that the epidemiological patterns of STH infection by age and species mix in Southeast Asia are similar to those reported in other parts of the world. In the published studies there were a large number of different diagnostic methods used with differing sensitivities and specificities, which makes comparison of the results both within and between countries difficult. There is a clear requirement to standardise the methods of both STH diagnosis in faecal material and how the intensity of infection is recorded and reported in future STH research and in monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the impact of continuing and expanding mass drug administration (MDA) programmes.