A survey of three Costa Rican communities for intestinal parasites

Abstract

Single stool specimens were collected from 848 individuals from three rural communities of Paracito, El Naranjo and Palmira, Costa Rica. Examination by the F. E. sedimentation technique revealed 7 species of helminths and 11 species of protozoa. Over 95% of the 848 persons examined were parasitized, 83.5% with worms and 86% with protozoa. Whipworm, T. trichiufa, A. lumbricoides and hookworms were the most common worms encountered. Entamoeba histolytica occurred in about 40% of the people while Giardia lamblia was found in 21.7%. Dientamoeba fragilis was not encountered due to the method of examining the stools.