Neglected Rural Public Health Issue:The Case of Intestinal Roundworms

Despite increasing institutional and financial support, certain public health issues are still neglected by the Chinese Government. The present paper examines the soil-transmitted helminth （STH） infection and reinfection rates by conducting a survey on 1724 children in Guizhou Province, China. Our results indicate that 37.5 percent of children had been infected with one or more of the three types of tested STH. However, only 50.4 percent of children reported having taken deworming medicine during the 18-month period before the survey. Of those who reported being dewormed, 34.6 percent tested positive for STH infections. Poverty and number of siblings are significantly and positively correlated with infection and reinfection, and parental education is significantly and negatively correlated with infection and reinfection. Given the ineffectiveness of treatment in these areas to date, for anthelminthic campaigns to actually succeed, China must pay more attention to local- level incentives to improve children＇s health.

Soil-transmitted helminths detected from environmental samples in a campus of southern Brazil

Soil harbours enormous biodiversity,essential for maintaining environmental and human health.However,soil can also be a reservoir of various parasitic pathogens,such as soil-transmitted helminths(STH).We evaluated the presence of STH(e.g.,hookworms,roundworms and whipworms)in soil samples collected at twenty points within the perimeter of Campus do Vale(a university campus belonging to the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul-UFRGS),during 2022 winter season.Considering the One Health perspective,human,animal and environmentrelated data from each sampling point were collected.All soil samples showed nematode larvae,representing natural components of soil biodiversity.Considering STH eggs,35%(n=7)of soil samples showed hookworm eggs(e.g.,from Necator americanus or Ancylostoma duodenale),10%(n=2)showed roundworm(Ascaris lumbricoides)eggs,and 5%(n=1)showed whipworm(Trichuris trichiura-like)eggs.Of note,10%of the sampling points showed the presence of rhabditiform hookworm larvae,5%showed Strongyloides stercoralis rhabditiform larvae and 5%had the presence of filariform hookworm larvae,indicating a risk of human percutaneous infection.The significant people circulation in Campus do Vale,in association with other environment-related factors,help to explain the prevalence of STH observed in this study.