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Mixed infections with Opisthorchis viverrini and intestinal flukes in residents of Vientiane Municipality and Saravane Province in Laos

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2024

J.-Y. Chai*
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, and Institute of Endemic Diseases, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul, 110-799, Korea:
J.-H. Park
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, and Institute of Endemic Diseases, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul, 110-799, Korea:
E.-T. Han
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, College of Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, 200-701, Korea:
S.-M. Guk
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, and Institute of Endemic Diseases, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul, 110-799, Korea:
E.-H. Shin
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, and Institute of Endemic Diseases, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul, 110-799, Korea:
A. Lin
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, and Institute of Endemic Diseases, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul, 110-799, Korea:
J.-L. Kim
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, and Institute of Endemic Diseases, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul, 110-799, Korea:
W.-M. Sohn
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology and Institute of Health Sciences, Gyeongsang National University College of Medicine, Jinju 660-751, Korea:
T.-S. Yong
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul, 120-752, Korea:
K.S. Eom
Affiliation:
Chungbuk National University, Chongju, 361-763, Korea:
D.-Y. Min
Affiliation:
Hanyang University, Seoul, 133-791, Korea:
E.-H. Hwang
Affiliation:
Korea Association of Health Promotion, Seoul, 157-704, Korea
B. Phommmasack
Affiliation:
Department of Hygiene and Prevention, Ministry of Public Health, Vientiane, Lao PDR:
B. Insisiengmay
Affiliation:
Department of Hygiene and Prevention, Ministry of Public Health, Vientiane, Lao PDR:
H.-J. Rim
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, Korea University, Seoul, 136-705, Korea:
*
*Fax: +82 2 7656142 Email: cjy@snu.ac.kr

Abstract

Faecal examinations for helminth eggs were performed on 1869 people from two riverside localities, Vientiane Municipality and Saravane Province, along the Mekong River, Laos. To obtain adult flukes, 42 people positive for small trematode eggs (Opisthorchis viverrini, heterophyid, or lecithodendriid eggs) were treated with a 20–30 mg kg−1 single dose of praziquantel and purged. Diarrhoeic stools were then collected from 36 people (18 in each area) and searched for helminth parasites using stereomicroscopes. Faecal examinations revealed positive rates for small trematode eggs of 53.3% and 70.8% (average 65.2%) in Vientiane and Saravane Province, respectively. Infections with O. viverrini and six species of intestinal flukes were found, namely, Haplorchis taichui, H. pumilio, H. yokogawai, Centrocestus caninus, Prosthodendrium molenkampi, and Phaneropsolus bonnei. The total number of flukes collected and the proportion of fluke species recovered were markedly different in the two localities; in Vientiane, 1041 O. viverrini (57.8 per person) and 615 others (34.2 per person), whereas in Saravane, 395 O. viverrini (21.9 per person) and 155207 others (8622.6 per person). Five people from Saravane harboured no O. viverrini but numerous heterophyid and/or lecithodendriid flukes. The results indicate that O. viverrini and several species of heterophyid and lecithodendriid flukes are endemic in these two riverside localities, and suggest that the intensity of infection and the relative proportion of fluke species vary by locality along the Mekong River basin.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2005

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