FRECUENCIA DE PARÁSITOS INTESTINALES EN EXÁMENES COPROPARASITOLÓGICOS DIRECTOS PROCESADOS EN EL LABORATORIO DE INVESTIGACIÓN MÉDICA, 2011-2015

Abstract

Introduction: Intestinal parasites can cause important clinical manifestations, in addition they are related to economic and social inequalities. The objective of this study is to describe the frequency, macroscopic characteristics, age distribution, gender and seasonality of intestinal parasites in simple direct coproparasitological tests processed in the Medical Research Laboratory between 2011 and 2015. Materials and methods: It is a descriptive cross-sectional study. The universe corresponds to 3 728 samples of simple direct coproparasitological tests that were processed in the Medical Research Laboratory of Cochabamba, Bolivia. The data collected was processed and analyzed under descriptive statistics with the Microsoft Office Excel® 2010 program. Results: A 36,33% (n = 1 328) of the samples presented infection by intestinal parasites, being the most frequent parasite Blastocystis hominis with 44,5% (n = 822); Giardia lamblia with 10,6% (n = 195) and Entamoeba histolytica /dispar with 8,1% (n = 149) represent the pathogenic intestinal protozoa. Among the helminths (3,41%), Hymenolepis nana is the most frequent (2%). According to the macroscopic characteristics, higher frequencies are reported in pasty and semipastuous samples (53,69 and 38,33%, respectively). The most parasitized age groups were 11-20 and 21-30 years old (43 and 43,86%, respectively), affecting more the female sex. Finally, the spring year reported higher frequencies. Conclusion: There is a considerable frequency of intestinal parasites in the population that goes to the laboratory, whose characteristics are in line with those expected for the conditions of our environment.