Prevalence and age distribution of enterobiasis in North-Eastern Bulgaria

Abstract

Enterobiasis is a worldwide distributed helminthiasis that mainly affects children. Bulgarian healthcare legislation mandates annual tests for E. vermicularis in large part of the population. This study aimed to establish the prevalence of enterobiasis in children and adults in Varna district, in North-eastern (NE) Bulgaria. A retrospective analysis of 71,308 laboratory results from patients tested for E. vermicularis between 2009 and 2018 was performed. The overall prevalence of enterobiasis was 0.91 % with a signifi cantly higher rate in children (1.49 %) than in adults (0.25 %). An increased tendency of the annual prevalence rates (0.45 %/2009 – 1.45 %/2018) was demonstrated solely due to the propagation of this disease in children population. Detailed analysis in different groups clustered by age and attendance of children's collectives showed that the lowest level of enterobiasis (0.36 %) was found in children younger than 36 months and afterwards an increased level (1.58 %) in preschool kids (3 – 6 y) was detected. The highest occurrence (9.57 %) was observed in school-age children (7 – 17 y) where no prophylactic measures by law are required or performed. The prevalence of the enterobiasis observed in Varna District corresponds with the offi cial reports in the country and refl ects the actual situation of this disease in Bulgaria. The regional and countrywide data demonstrate that the levels are signifi cantly lower than those reported in the other European countries. The main reason for that is the implementation of an extensive and effective system for the surveillance, prevention and control of E. vermicularis-infection in Bulgaria.