Health Status of Immigrant Children and Environmental Survey of Child Daycare Centers in Samut Sakhon Province, Thailand

Abstract

Samut Sakhon is a Thai province popular among immigrants attracted to work in factories and the Thai food industry, especially people from Myanmar. Poor personal-hygiene behaviors, crowded accommodation and limited sanitation, result in health problems among immigrant workers. Various infectious diseases among this group are seen and managed by Samut Sakhon General Hospital. The impact of intestinal parasitic infections on public health is well known; they can spread from infected immigrant areas to uninfected areas via close contact and fecal-oral transmission from contaminated food and water. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among 372 immigrant children at 8 child-daycare centers during their parents' work time, by physical examination, fecal examination, and examination of the environment around the centers. Physical examinations were generally unremarkable, except that head-lice and fingernail examinations were positive in two cases (0.8 %). The results showed intestinal parasitic infections to be highly prevalent, at 71.0 %. These infections comprised both helminths and protozoa: Trichuris trichiura (50.8 %), Enterobius vermicularis (25.2 %), Ascaris lumbricoides (15.3 %), hookworm (11.6 %), Giardia lamblia (10.2 %), Endolimax nana (3.5 %), Entamoeba coli (2.7 %), and Blastocystis hominis (0.5 %). The environmental survey found a small number of houseflies near the accommodation to be positive for helminthic eggs (0.2 %), including A. lumbricoides, E. vermicularis, hookworms, Taenia spp., and minute intestinal flukes. Regarding the high prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among children, it has been conjectured whether they were infected, along with their parents, during their daily lives before or after settling in Thailand. Intestinal parasites among immigrant children may involve a significant epidemiological impact, since immigrant children can serve as carriers and transmitters of disease.

Keywords: Carriers; Immigrant children; Intestinal parasitic infections; Thailand.