Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among school children in capital  areas of the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, West Africa.

Chien-Wei Liao, Chung-Jung Fu, Cheng-Yan Kao, Yueh-Lun Lee, Po-Ching Chen, Ting-Wu Chuang, Toshio Naito, Chia-Mei Chou, Ying-Chie Huang, Idalina Bonfim, Chia-Kwung Fan.
1. Department of Molecular Parasitology and Tropical Diseases, School of Medicine, College of Medicine,
Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
2. Graduate Institute of Biomedical Electronics and Bioinformatics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
3. Department of International Medical Affairs, Taipei Medical University-Shuang-Ho Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
4. Department of Microbiology and Immunology
5. Department of General Medicine
6. Department of Infection Control Science, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Japan
7. Instituto de Ciências da Saúde Dr Victor Sá Machado, Democratic Republic of Sao Tomes and Principe
8. Master Program in Global Health and Development, College of Public Health and Nutrition, Taipei Medical
University, Taipei, Taiwan
9. International Master/PhD Program in Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan

Abstract
Background:Although the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe (DRSTP) has undertaken school children-based  deworming programs against intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) using a single dose of mebendazole annually since 2005, it remains unclear as to the outcome to date. The present study intends to investigate the recent IPIs status among school children  living in capital areas of the DRSTP.

Methods: A total of 252 school children (121 boys and 131 girls) of grades 4 and 5 from 4 primary schools located in the capital  areas participated in the present study and their fresh fecal specimens were examined for the presence of any parasites using the  merthiolate- iodine-formaldehyde concentration method as conducted.

Results:The overall prevalence of IPIs was 64.7% (163/ 252). No significant gender difference in prevalence between boys
(67.8%) and girls (61.8%) was found (p = 0.3). The majority of school children were infected with a single species of parasite (55.8%). Altogether, 12 different intestinal parasite  species were identified in DRSTP school children, of which 9 species were pathogenic and the remaining 3 were non-pathogenic.

Conclusion:Improving the detection method, sanitation facilities and personal hygiene as well as utilizing combined drugs are
all important measures to greatly reduce IPIs in DRSTP school children.

Keywords: Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, school children, intestinal parasitic infections