Socio-environmental conditions, intestinal parasitic infections and nutritional status in children from a suburban neighborhood of La Plata, Argentina

doi:10.1016/j.actatropica.2009.06.015

Acta Tropica

Volume 118, Issue 3, June 2011, Pages 184-189

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actatropica.2009.06.015 Get rights and content

Abstract

We analyzed intestinal parasitic infections in children aged 1–12 years from a poor neighborhood in La Plata, Argentina, and determined the correlations with their nutritional status and socio-environmental conditions. We performed parasitological analyses with anal brushed technique (for Enterobius vermicularis eggs) and fecal samples, employing the techniques of Ritchie, Carles Barthelemy and Willis. The worm burdens of nematodes were estimated by means of Kato Katz technique. Low weight-for-age (underweight), height-for-age (stunting) and weight-for-height (wasting) were calculated based on the 5th centile of the WHO 2006 (children under 5) and CDC 2000 (older children and adolescents) growth references. We also analyzed samples of soil, water, and canine feces and surveyed other domestic and environmental data using structured questionnaires to each child's parents. To associate the parasitological, anthropometric and socio-environmental data, a categorical analysis of principal components (catPCA) was conducted. In the first axis of catPCA, the correlations among socio-environmental variables showed a gradient of “relative welfare”. The eigenvectors showed the most influential variables in the analysis were promiscuity (0.0765), father's education (−0.741), crowding (0.727), wastewater disposal (−0.658), mother's education (−0.574), and flooding (−0.409). The 85% of children were parasitized and 79.6% polyparasitized. The 27.7% of children had deficit in some nutritional status indicator, being the stunting the most prevalent deficit (16.8%). There also found parasites in 42% of the dog feces, 53% of the soil samples, and non-pathogenic amoebae in the water samples. The SEV was mainly associated with geohelminths and stunting, especially among the poorest children. The study evidences that living conditions are variable within this population. Part of these variations could be linked to the differences in the extent to which parents are able to use their scant resources to influence their children's morbidity. Further studies need to be done from a qualitative approach.

Introduction

In Latin America, where the movement of rural populations to urban areas has been both rapid and highly visible, about 85–90% of the population lives in cities (PAHO, 1998, Díaz Malásques, 2002). This movement has not always been successful since it has been usually limited by the lack of employment opportunities (Almandoz, 2008). One of the consequences has been an increase in the number of poor urban people who have to live in slums where they are denied basic amenities such as potable water, electricity, and proper sanitation (Ruel, 2000). This circumstance produces an epidemiological framework that is characterized by a high prevalence of infectious diseases, such as parasitoses (Thompson, 2001, Gamboa et al., 2003).

In La Plata, the capital city of the Province of Buenos Aires (Argentina), only 28% of the inhabitants have basic infrastructural services. In contrast, 62% of the population lives in a suburban area called Gran La Plata (EPH, 2003). Many of these marginal settlements are located in flood-prone areas, which circumstance favors soil contamination and consequently the transmission of diseases by food contaminated with pathogens, e.g., Escherichia coli, Vibrio cholerae; Giardia lamblia, Ascaris lumbricoides, Hymenolepis nana (Gamboa, 1999, Basualdo et al., 2000). Chronic infections and multiple parasitoses exacerbate this situation and cause a significant increase of anemia, growth retardation, and vulnerability to other diseases (Stephenson and Holland, 1987). Thus Bethony et al. (2006) observed that parasitized children exhibited short height-for-age, cognitive deficits, and lower performances at school. For this reason, further research involving these socio-environmental aspects is needed in such high-risk areas. The aim of this work was therefore to analyze socio-environmental characteristics, intestinal parasitoses and nutritional status in children from a poor suburban neighborhood of La Plata, the capital city of Buenos Aires.

Section snippets

Materials and methods

“El Paligüe” settlement, 3 km south of the urban center of La Plata, is characterized by precarious housing built on government lands with limited access to public services. There we found two soup kitchens, a NGO sponsored by a religious entity operating in the neighborhood. Children aged 0–6 years attend one of these soup kitchens and are there for 6–10 h per day; young people aged 6–18 years attend the other one after school. The children are served two daily meals (breakfast/lunch or

Socio-environmental analysis

In 82% of the cases, both parents were in charge of the family; while single, separated, or widowed mothers headed the remaining 18%. Fifty-eight percent of the parents did not have a formal job, and 38% had only an incomplete primary education. On average, each house was inhabited by six persons, 3.6 of them were children. Sixty-five percent of the children lived in crowded homes, and 62% shared their bed. In addition, 38% had inadequate sanitary installations (latrines). Drinking water was

Discussion

The urban social strata show inequalities so that the lower income inhabitants have higher rates of undernourishment than those from rural areas (Ruel, 2000). However, the precarious impoverished intra-urban strata are habitually considered as relatively homogenous. Within such groups, where poverty is commonly shared by all the inhabitants, differences regarding parasitoses and nutritional status become strongly related to local socio-environmental conditions. In this study we found a gradient

Authors’ contributions

Dra. María I. Gamboa: Parasitological and socio-environmental data collection, laboratory analysis and redaction of manuscript.
Dra. Graciela T. Navone: Laboratory analysis and redaction of manuscript.
Dra. Alicia B. Orden: Anthropometric survey and redaction of manuscript.
Dra. María F. Torres: Anthropometric survey and redaction of manuscript.
Dr. Luis E. Castro: Statistical analysis.
Dra. Evelia E. Oyhenart: Anthropometric survey and redaction of manuscript.

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the staff of the Father Cajade Foundation for their valuable assistance during the field work. This research was supported by grants from the Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (CIC), the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), the Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y tecnológica (ANPCyT) and the Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP).

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Socio-environmental conditions, intestinal parasitic infections and nutritional status in children from a suburban neighborhood of La Plata, Argentina

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Materials and methods

Socio-environmental analysis

Discussion

Authors’ contributions

Acknowledgements

Int. J. Hyg. Environ. Health

Lancet

Int. J. Parasitol.

Despegues sin madurez. Urbanización, industrialización y desarrollo en la Latinoamérica del siglo XX

EURE

Evaluación nutricional antropométrica de la niñez pobre del norte argentino: Proyecto encuNa

Arch. Argent. Pediatr.

Crisis de la seguridad alimentaria en la Argentina y estado nutricional en una población vulnerable

Arch. Argent. Pediatr.

Presencia de parásitos intestinales en paseos públicos urbanos en La Plata, Argentina

Parasitol. Latinoam.

Studies of flotation techniques of the recovery of helminth eggs from soil and the prevalence of eggs of Toxocara sp. in some Kansas public places

Am. Vet. Med. Assoc.

Planes de desarrollo local: enfoques y tendencias en América Latina

Rev. Inst. Invest. Fac. Minas. Metal. Cienc. Geogr.

Trichuris vulpis recovered from a patient with chronic diarrhea and five dogs

J. Clin. Microbiol.

Distribution of intestinal parasitoses in relation to environmental and sociocultural parameters in La Plata, Argentina

J. Helminthol.

Multivariate Analysis Part I: Distributions, Ordination, and Inference

CDC Growth Charts: United States. Advance Data from Vital and Health Statistics 314

Anthropometric Standardization Reference Manual

Encuesta de nutrición de la niñez del norte argentino: Proyecto encuNa Parte II: El estado nutricional y el contexto familiar y social

Arch. Argent. Pediatr.