Prevalence of Intestinal Parasites in a Sample of Food Handlers at a State Enterprise

Abstract

The objective of this research was to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasites in food handlers at several PDVSA dining rooms, who requested a health certificate at PDVSA clinics on the East Lake Coast. One-hundred sixty-six stool samples were analyzed using parasitological methods: microscopic evaluation in physiological saline solution at 0.85%, Lugol’s solution and the Ritchie method. The prevalence of intestinal parasites was 25.90% (43/166). Of those who had parasites, 17.47% corresponded to the group of 20 to 40 years old and 8.43% to the group of 40 years or older. No statistically significant difference was observed between age and frequency of intestinal parasitosis (Chi2 = 0.539, P> 0.05). According to sex, 15.66% of the parasitized cases were male and 10.24% female (Chi2 = 0.016, P> 0.05). Only protozoa were identified, highlighting Blastocystis sp. with 83.72%. This study showed that food handlers were infected with enteric protozoa. The detected prevalence is similar to other studies in similar populations.

Keywords

• Parásitos Intestinales
• Blastocystis sp
• Manipuladores de Alimentos