Soil-transmitted helminth egg contamination from soil of indigenous communities in selected barangays in Tigaon, Camarines Sur, Philippines

Objective:To provide baseline data on the prevalence and intensity of soil-transmitted helminthiasis egg contamination in the soil among indigenous communities.Methods:A total of 317 soil samples from three barangays of indigenous communities communities in Tigaon,Camarines Sur,Philippines were examined for soil-transmitted helminthiasis egg contamination using optimized sugar flotation method.Results:Of the soil samples examined,141(44.48%)were contaminated by Ascaris spp.,Toxocara spp.,and Trichuris spp.with cumulative prevalence varying across the study sites(P<0.01).Ascaris spp.was predominant in all study sites,followed by Toxocara spp.and Trichuris spp.with a prevalence of 41.96%,7.57%,and 5.36%,respectively.Interestingly,Toxocara pp.has the highest intensity of contamination,followed by Ascaris spp.and Trichuris spp.in term of geometric mean soil-transmitted helminthiasis eggs recovered per one gram soil sample(34.25,21.45,and 11.85 respectively).Each study site harbors significant amount of soiltransmitted helminthiasis eggs and zoonotic Toxocara eggs,which present high risk of soil-transmitted helminthiasis infection,particularly among children observed to play and cohabitate with animals known to be hosts of these parasites.Conclusions:The alarming rate of soil-transmitted helminthiasis and Toxocara egg contamination reported in this study suggests that additional measures should be undertaken to control soil-transmitted helminthiasis and zoonotic intestinal infections in the country.