Prevalence of parasitosis in children who attend to daycare centers in Mexico City

Abstract

Introduction: intestinal parasitic infections are a public health problem. Objective: to estimate the prevalence of intestinal parasitosis in children from two months to six years of age attending daycare centers in Mexico City. Material and methods: cross-sectional and retrospective study, carried out between November 2019 and February 2020 in a population of 801 children, attending four daycare centers. Coproparasitoscopic studies requested annually were analyzed Results: the prevalence for intestinal parasitosis was 19.1% (153/801), but it was higher in ≤ 3 years old (56/151, 37.1%), and in malnourished children (18/21, 85.7%). The most frequent parasite was Blastocystis hominis (45%), followed by Endolimax nana (20.3%) and Giardia lamblia (10.5%). Conclusion: compared to previous studies, the prevalence of parasitosis in children attending daycare centers was low. Factors, such as age and nutritional status, can modify the prevalence.