Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among school children in
capital areas of the Democratic Republic of S\ue3o Tom\ue9 and
Pr\uedncipe, West Africa.
Background: Although the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe
(DRSTP) has undertaken school children-based deworming programs against
intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) using a single dose of
mebendazole annually since 2005, it remains unclear as to the outcome
to date. The present study intends to investigate the recent IPIs
status among school children living in capital areas of the DRSTP.
Methods: A total of 252 school children (121 boys and 131 girls) of
grades 4 and 5 from 4 primary schools located in the capital areas
participated in the present study and their fresh fecal specimens were
examined for the presence of any parasites using the merthiolate-
iodine-formaldehyde concentration method as conducted. Results: The
overall prevalence of IPIs was 64.7% (163/ 252). No significant gender
difference in prevalence between boys (67.8%) and girls (61.8%) was
found (p = 0.3). The majority of school children were infected with a
single species of parasite (55.8%). Altogether, 12 different intestinal
parasite species were identified in DRSTP school children, of which 9
species were pathogenic and the remaining 3 were non-pathogenic.
Conclusion: Improving the detection method, sanitation facilities and
personal hygiene as well as utilizing combined drugs are all important
measures to greatly reduce IPIs in DRSTP school children