Occurrence of intestinal parasites in children from public schools in the city of Araçatuba, São Paulo, Brazil
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23925/1984-4840.2026v28a17Keywords:
Parasitic Diseases, Infectious Diseases Medicine, Students, Family, Prevalence, Health PromotionAbstract
Objective: We evaluated the occurrence of intestinal parasites in schoolchildren and their families. Methods: Volunteers from six municipal schools of Araçatuba (São Paulo, Brazil) were assessed. Stool samples were collected using the Three Fecal Test (TF-Test) collector vials. Results: Positivity for Giardia duodenalis and the variable ‘age’ showed a significant association (p<0.0001), with the highest prevalence among children up to seven years old. There was also a significant association for Blastocystis spp. (p=0.0146) and the most affected age group was volunteers over 18 years old. Conclusion: Protozoa stood out as a well-adapted group in urban regions, likely due to their resistance to water treatment.
Downloads
Metrics
References
1. Alum A, Rubino JR, Ijaz K. The global war against intestinal parasites—should we use a holistic approach? Int J Infect Dis. 2010;14(9):e732-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2009.11.036.
2. Soares FA, Benitez AN, Santos BM, Loiola SHN, Rosa SL, Nagata WB, et al. A historical review of the techniques of recovery of parasites for their detection in human stools. Rev Soc Bras Med Trop. 2020;53:e20190535. doi: 10.1590/0037-8682-0535-2019.
3. Fakhri Y. The risk factors for intestinal Giardia spp infection: Global systematic review and meta-analysis and meta-regression. Acta Trop. 2021;220:105968. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2021.105968.
4. Hajissa K, Islam MA, Sanyang AM, Mohamed Z. Prevalence of intestinal protozoan parasites among school children in africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2022;16(2):e0009971. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0009971.
5. Gomes JF, Hoshino-Shimizu S, Dias LC, Araujo AJ, Castilho VL, Neves FA. Evaluation of a novel kit (TF-Test) for the diagnosis of intestinal parasitic infections. J Clin Lab Anal. 2004;18(2):132-8. doi: 10.1002/jcla.20011.
6. Fantinatti M, Gonçalves-Pinto M, Lopes-Oliveira LAP, Da-Cruz AM. Epidemiology of Giardia duodenalis assemblages in Brazil: there is still a long way to go. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 2020;115:e200431. doi: 10.1590/0074-02760200431.
7. Coco VF del, Molina NB. Blastocystis spp.: avances, controversias y desafíos futuros. Rev Argent Microbiol. 2017;49(1):110–8. doi: 10.1016/j.ram.2016.08.004.
8. Ish-Horowicz M, Korman SH, Shapiro M, Har-Even U, Tamir I, Strauss N, Deckelbaum RJ. Asymptomatic giardiasis in children. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 1989;8(11):773-9. doi: 10.1097/00006454-198911000-00009..
9. Embley TM, Hirt RP. Early branching eukaryotes? Curr Opin Genet Dev. 1998;8(6):624–9. doi: 10.1016/S0959-437X(98)80029-4.
10. Thompson RCA, Smith A. Zoonotic enteric protozoa. Vet Parasitol. 2011;182(1):70–8. doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2011.07.016.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Revista da Faculdade de Ciências Médicas de Sorocaba

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Os autores no momento da submissão transferem os direitos autorais, assim, os manuscritos publicados passam a ser propriedade da revista.
O conteúdo do periódico está licenciado sob uma Licença Creative Commons 4.0, esta licença permite o livre acesso imediato ao trabalho e que qualquer usuário leia, baixe, copie, distribua, imprima, pesquise ou vincule aos textos completos dos artigos, rastreando-os para indexação, passá-los como dados para o software, ou usá-los para qualquer outra finalidade legal.
Este obra está licenciada com uma Licença