Abstract
It was estimated that about 1.3 billion persons all over the world were infected with Ascaris Lumbricoides (A.L.), Especially children in tropical and subtropical countries.
AIM
To investigate the effects of A.L. infection on the nutritional status and the intellectual level in a sample of Egyptian primary school children from rural Giza province.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS
A sample of 637 children (329 boys and 308 girls) aged 6–12 years, have been subjected to some anthropometric measurements including body weight, body height, arm circumference, head circumference and triceps skinfold thickness. In addition, the I.Q. was determined using “Draw-a-man” test. Blood hemoglobin concentration was also determined using a spectrophotometric method. All the children were then subjected to stools and urine examinations, and peri-anal swab. Only 242 children were included for further study, of whom 45 boys and 38 girls were found infected with A.L. solely, and 81 boys and 78 girls of about the same age free of parasitic infections were taken as control.
RESULTS
Children infected with A.L. has significantly lower body weight, height, and arm circumference but insignificantly lower skinfold thickness and head circumference as comparedto the control group. Infected children had significantly lower hemoglobin concentration and I.Q. than the controls.
CONCLUSIONS
Selected anthropometric measurements, biochemical and intellectual tests from a useful complementary battery for reliable and informative investigation of the effects of parasitic infection on child nutrition and health. A.L. was found to have a significant effect on the physical and intellectual status of the rural Egyptian children of age 6–12 years.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Banwell J. G. (1984): Malabsorption syndromes. In: Tropical and Geographical Medicine, Warren, K.S. and Mahmoud, A.A.F. 1st Ed. p 1429. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York.
Bray B. (1953): Nitrogen metabolism in West African Children Brit. J. Nutr. 7: 3.
Cameron N. (1978): In human growth, Vol. 2, Bailliere Tindall, London.
Chatterju A., Basu S.P. and A.B. Chowdhury (1968): Preliminary observations on the digestive proteolytic enzymes in ascariasis. Bull. Calcutta School Trop. Med. 16: 9.
Collier H. B. (1941): Canad. J. Res., 19, B91: Quoted from Venkatachalam and Patwardhan, 1953. Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg., 47: 169–174.
Crompton D. W. T. (1984): Influence of parasitic infection on food intake. Federation Proceedings, 43: 239–245.
Crompton D.W.T. (1989): Influence of parasitic infection on food intake. Federation Proceedings, 43:239–245.
Crompton D.W.T. and Tulley J.J. (1987): How much ascariasis is there in Africa? Parasitol Today 3: 123–127.
Eilers R.J. (1967): Am. J. Clin. Path. 47:212–214. Quoted from Fundamentals of clinical Chemistry. W.B.Saunders Company. Philadelphia. London. Toronto.
Ellingworth R.S. (1966): The development of the infant and young child normal and abnormal. 3rd Ed. E.O.S. Livingstone Ltd. London.
Forsum E., Nesheim M.C. and Crompton D.W.t. (1981): Nutritional aspect of ascaris infection in young protein deficient pigs. Parasitol., 83: 499–512.
Freij L., Meeuwisse G.W., Berg N.O., Wall S. and Gebre-Medhin M. (1979): Ascaris and malnutrition a study in urban Ethiopian children. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 32: 1545–1553.
Gad El-Mawla N., Abdallah A., and Galil N. (1966): Studies on the malabsorption syndrome among Egyptians. Fecal fat and d-xylose absorption tests in patients with ascariasis and taeniasis. J. Egypt. Med. Assoc. 49: 473.
Goodenough F.L. (1926): Measurement of intelligence by drawings. 1st Ed. Harcourt, Brace and Worl. New York.
Green N.M. (1957): Protease inhibitors from ascaris lumbricoides. Biochem. J. 66: 416.
Gupta R.K., and Basu B.N. (1974) Gastrointestinal protein loss in Hookworm and Roundworm infections. Am. J. Clinical Nutr., 27: 1386–89.
Hamill J.M. (1906): J. Physiol., 33, 476. Quoted form Venkatachalam and Patwardhan (1953): Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg., 47: 169–174.
Harned B.K. and Nash T.P. (1932): J. biol. Chem., 97:443. Quoted from Venkatachalam and Patwardhan (1953) Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg., 47: 169–174.
Hassan E., Darwish O., Kotkat A., and Nawar O. (1987) Anaemia as a public health problem among preschool children in Alexandria. Bull of HIPH; XVII (4): 61–74.
Kloetzel K., Filho T.M.J. and Kloetzel D. (1982) Ascariasis and malnutrition in a group of Brazilian children, a follow up study. Journal of Tropical Pediatrics, 28, 41–43.
Lagundoye S.B. (1972): Disordered small bowel pattern in ascariasis. Trop. J. Med. 24: 226–231.
Maxwell, J.D., Murray D. and Ferguson A. (1968): Ascaris, lumbricoides infestation associated with jejunal mucosal abnormalities. Scot. Med. J. 13: 280–281.
Pawlowsky; Z.S., (1990): Tropical and Geographical Medicine. 2nd Ed. (editors: K. S. Warren and A. A. F. Mahmoud) McGraw-Hill information Service Company. New York.
Sherif A.F., Abdou A.H., and El-Sawi F. (1961): Incidence of parasitic infections among school children in Alexandria. Alex. M. J., 7: 483–488.
Stephenson L.S., Crompton D.W., Latham M.C., Schulpen T.W., Nesheim M.C. and Jansen A.A. (1980): Relationship between Ascaris infection and growth of malnourished preschool children in Kenya, Am. J. Clin. Nutr., May, 33 (5): 1165–1172.
Stephenson L.S., Lathum M.C., Adams J., Kinoti S.N. and Pertet A. (1993): Weight gain of Kenyan school children infected with hook worm, Trichuris trichura and Ascaris lumbricoides is improved following once or twice yearly treatment with albendazole. J. Nut., Vol. 123(4): 656–65.
Stephenson L.S., Lathum M.C., Kurz K.M., Kinotis N. and Brgham H. (1989): Treatment with a single dose of albendazole improves growth of Kenyan school children with Hook worm, Trichuristrichura, and Ascaris lumbricoides infections. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 41 (1): 78–87.
Taren D.L., Nesheim M.C., Crompton W.T., Holland C.V., et al. (1987): Contributions of ascariasis to poor nutritional status in children from Chiariqui Province, Republic of Panama. Paras. 95: 603–13.
Thein-Hlaing, Thane-Toe, Than-Saw, Myat-Lay-Kyin and Myint-Lwin (1991): A controlled chemotherapeutic intervention trial on the relationship between Ascaris lumbricoides infection and malnutrition in children. Trans. Roy. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg. 85: 523–528.
Tripathy K., Gonzalez F., Lotero H., and Balanos O. (1971): Effects of Ascaris infection on human nutrition. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 20 (2): 212.
Van Kampen E.J. and ZijLstra W.G. (1965): Adv. Clin. Chem. 8: 141–187. Quoted from Tietz N.W. Fundamentals of Clinical Chemistry. W.B. Sanders Company. Philadelphia London. Toronto.
Venkatachalam P.S., and Patwardhan V.N. (1953): The role of Ascaris lumbricoides in the nutrition of the host: effect of ascariasis on digestion of proteins. Trans. Roy. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg., 47(2): 169–175.
Weinland E. (1903): Parasitology, 38, 283. Quoted from Ven Katachalam and Patwardhan, (1953). Trans. Roy. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg., 47: 169–174.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
El-Nofely, A., Shaalan, A. Effect of Ascaris infection on the nutritional status and I.Q. of children. Int. J. Anthropol. 14, 55–59 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02447627
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02447627