Parasites in stool samples in the environment of Ilha da Marambaia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: an approach in public health

• Main Authors: Beatriz Coronato, Otilio Machado Pereira Bastos, Rosemere Duarte, Antonio Nascimento Duarte, Valmir Laurentino-Silva, Marcos Barbosa de Souza, Claudia Maria Antunes Uchôa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade de São Paulo 2012-04-01
• Series: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo
• Subjects: Zoonotic parasites; Hookworms; Dogs; Soil
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0036-46652012000200002&lng=en&tlng=en

This research aimed to describe the frequency of parasites in stool samples in the environment of Ilha da Marambaia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. One hundred and five stool samples were collected and processed by the coproparasitological techniques ethyl acetate sedimentation and centrifuge-flotation using saturated sugar solution. Parasites were detected in 81.9% of the samples, hookworm being the most prevalent, followed by Trichuris vulpis. Ascaris sp. eggs were also found. A high level of evolutive forms of parasites with public health risk was found in stool samples of the environment studied. We propose that health education programs, allied to an improvement of human and animal health care, must be employed to reduce the environmental contamination.