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Intestinal parasite infections associated with sociodemographic and seasonal factors in the Western Amazon

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Abstract

Intestinal parasites are a constant public health problem in the Amazon region, with a high prevalence of cases related to poor sanitary conditions. We investigated the sociodemographic and seasonal factors associated with human intestinal parasite infections in an area of the Western Amazon, Brazil, from September 2017 to August 2019. Data were collected using a database available at the Diagnostic Support Centre (Centro de Apoio ao Diagnóstico, CAD) of the Municipality of Rio Branco, on positive diagnoses for intestinal parasites. Among the 53,200 samples analysed, 18.3% (n = 9712) were positive. Of these, 96.4% (n = 9363) and 3.6% (n = 349) were protozoan and helminthic infections, respectively. Males showed higher odds ratio (OR) for Enterobius vermicularis infection (OR: 2.3) and giardiasis (OR: 1.9) and lower OR for Endolimax nana (OR: 0.9) and Entamoeba coli (OR: 0.9) infections. Individuals aged ≥ 15 presented higher OR for Strongyloides stercoralis (OR: 3.4), hookworms (OR: 2.3), and almost all protozoan infections than younger individuals. In the dry season, the OR for hookworms (OR: 1.5), Iodamoeba butschlii (OR: 1.4), and Endolimax nana (OR: 1.3) infections was higher than that in the rainy season, including a high chance of polyparasitism (OR: 1.6). We concluded that there was a significant difference between the different types of intestinal parasites, particularly protozoa, with high OR in the dry season and for certain groups.

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Data availability

The dataset used in this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Diagnostic Support Center (Centro de Apoio ao Diagnóstico — CAD) of the Municipality of Rio Branco, Acre, for allowing access to the data. To Mr. Ademir Antonio Sinhorin, for his collaboration in organizing the data.

Funding

This study was financed by the authors’ resources.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Health and Sport Sciences, Federal University of Acre, Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil

    Gustavo Henrique Sinhorin, Ana Carolina Gomes Carneiro, Beatrice Emeli Silva Farias, Patrícia de Almeida & Andreia Fernandes Brilhante

  2. Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Public Health, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Antônio Ralph Medeiros-Sousa

  3. Center for Biological and Natural Sciences, Federal University of Acre, Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil

    Leonardo Augusto Kohara Melchior

Authors
  1. Gustavo Henrique Sinhorin
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  2. Ana Carolina Gomes Carneiro
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  3. Beatrice Emeli Silva Farias
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  4. Patrícia de Almeida
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  5. Antônio Ralph Medeiros-Sousa
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  6. Leonardo Augusto Kohara Melchior
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  7. Andreia Fernandes Brilhante
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Contributions

GHS and AFB conceived and designed the study. GSF, ACGC, BESF, and PA collected and organized the data. GHS, AFB, ARMS, and LAKM analysed data and drafted the manuscript. All authors read, revised, and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andreia Fernandes Brilhante.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee in Research involving Human Beings of the Federal University of Acre, under opinion number CAAE 26898419.8.0000.5010.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Handling Editor: Una Ryan

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Figure S1

Fourfold plot for statistically significant independence tests (p<0.05) between detection of intestinal parasites and sex. (PNG 89 kb)

High resolution image (TIFF 12656 kb)

Figure S2

Fourfold plot for statistically significant independence tests (p<0.05) between the detection of intestinal parasites and age group. (PNG 108 kb)

High resolution image (TIFF 12246 kb)

Figure S3

Fourfold plot for statistically significant independence tests (p<0.05) between detection of intestinal parasites and season (dry and rainy months). (PNG 86 kb)

High resolution image (TIFF 12656 kb)

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Sinhorin, G.H., Carneiro, A.C.G., Farias, B.E.S. et al. Intestinal parasite infections associated with sociodemographic and seasonal factors in the Western Amazon. Parasitol Res 122, 419–423 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-022-07736-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-022-07736-9

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