Abstract:
Intestinal helminth infections carry the heaviest burden of morbidity to the children
as well as adults in the world and also in Sri Lanka. The objective of this study was
to investigate the prevalence of three selected geo-helminths namely, the
whipworm Trichuris irichiura (Linnaeus, 1771), the hookworm Necalor
americanus (Stiles, 1902) and the round worm Ascaris lumbricoides (Linnaeus,
1758), and the effect of Albendazole on them in an urban slum community called
Hamugewatta, Walgama in Matara district. Stool samples that were collected from
a total of 143 residents in the community in February 2003, and other set of
samples previously collected from the same group of residents six months earlier in
2002 were utilized to examine the initial prevalence of the three helminthes. Keto-Katz thick smear method was used to observe helminth eggs in faeces and the
density in eggs per gram weight of faecal matter was estimated. The sampling
population was treated with a single dose of 400 mg Albendazole, and the stool
samples collected two weeks later were examined for parasitic eggs. From 2002
samples, the prevalence of T. Irichiura, N. americanus and A. lumbricoides were
84%, 22% and 10% respectively, and there was an apparently discernible decrease
in prevalence of the nematodes in the samples collected six months later with a
significant egg reduction rate. In the samples collected in 2003 prior to
Albendazole treatment, the three helminthes were prevalent with 95%, 5% and 5%
respectively while 55%, 100% and 100% respective cure rates were achieved after
the Albendazole treatment. In other words the post treatment samples were positive
only for Linnaeus, 1758), and the T. trichiuru with a prevalence of 57% and an
accompanied egg reduction rate of 20%. An apparently decreasing trend in the
prevalence of these infections within the selected population could be inferred
when considering the relevant statistics from 1996 towards 2003. However, a
persistent T. trichiura infection in a mild state seems to occur even after treatment
with Albendazole. The effect of the drug Albendazole should be further
investigated using a large population, as the population size treated in the present
study was relatively small and the pre-treated prevalence of N. americanus and A.
lumbricoicles were considerably low.
