Giardia duodenalis infection risk factors for children stronglivingstrong.pdfVIP

NOTA RESEARCH NOTE 1489 Giardia duodenalis infection: risk factors for children living in sub-standard settlements in Brazil Infecção por Giardia duodenalis: fatores de risco para crianças residentes em áreas de assentamento subnormal no Brasil Júlio César Teixeira 1 Léo Heller 2 Mauricio L. Barreto 3 Abstract Introduction 1 Departamento de The objective of the present study was to charac- Infection by Giardia duodenalis, a parasitic pro- Hidráulica e Saneamento, Universidade Federal de Juiz terize Giardia duodenalis infection among chil- tozoan that attacks the small intestine and espe- de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Brasil. dren living in sub-standard settlement areas in cially the duodenum, occurs frequently in Brazil 2 Departamento de the municipality of Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais and is particularly common among preschool- Engenharia Sanitária e Ambiental, Universidade State, Brazil. The cross-sectional epidemiological aged children. Most infections are asymptomat- Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo study included 590 children from 1 to 5 years of ic, although infected individuals eliminate cysts Horizonte, Brasil. age. Data were collected from one child per select- through the feces for up to six months. Since the 3 Instituto de Saúde Coletiva, Universidade Federal da ed family