The most common helminth infection in middle and high income countries, particularly amongst school-aged children, is caused by
Enterobiasis is mostly acquired by ingestion of infective eggs. After ingestion, eggs develop to larvae and adult worms which mainly attach in the lower ileum, caecum and ascending colon (Cook, 1994). At night gravid female worms migrate from the colon through the anus to hatch eggs in perianal and perineal skin. Touching or scratching the perianal area combined with finger sucking causes autoinfection. The eggs contain a thick, outer albuminous layer which adheres to fomites. The environment serves as the route to pass
Socio-demographic risk factors for
Enterobiasis may remain asymptomatic or cause perianal pruritus, insomnia, restlessness, and irritability, particularly in children (Song
In Slovenia, the number of notified
This study was conducted from April 1, 2017 to June 30, 2022 in the Kranj Community Health Center (CHC), which is located in Kranj municipality (located in the Northern-Western part of Slovenia). There are approx. 57,000 residents in the municipality, with approx. 9,100 (16 % of the total population) children aged less than 15 years. Most of the preschool and primary school children are cared for by their pediatricians in the CHC as there are only two private pediatricians available in the municipality. According to the national statistics, 76 % – 79 % of children aged 1 – 5 years and living in Kranj municipality were registered in the kindergarten from year 2017 to 2021, which does not deviate from the average enrollment in Slovenia.
Prior to commencing the study, we conducted an explanatory meeting with CHC pediatricians concerning the purpose of the project. We provided to pediatricians written material for parents or legal guardians including: an information leaflet about
In this study we did not follow up participants after obtaining samples, therefore no information on subsequent treatment of participants was available. Treatment, if applied, was prescribed by the participant’s pediatrician according to the Slovenian guidelines for the treatment of infection with
Perianal tape tests were performed in the morning by the patients or their parents/legal guardians on three consecutive days. Slides with tapes were sent to the National Laboratory for Health, Food and Environment, Kranj Regional Unit, where they were analyzed microscopically using magnification × 100 first and for confirmation x 200. The results were entered in the laboratory information system. Completed questionnaires were forwarded to the National Institute of Public Health. The laboratory informed parents and the pediatrician of the result.
Data analysis was performed using SPSS statistical software (version 27, IBM) and 95 % confidence intervals calculated. Statistical significance was determined by a Pearson Chi-Square or Fisher’s exact test (categorical) and independent-samples T test (numerical), and p values < 0.05 were considered significant.
For this study, research related to human use complied with all the relevant national regulations, institutional policies and was in accordance with the tenets of the Helsinki Declaration. This study was approved by the Commission of the Republic of Slovenia for Medical Ethics (No. 0120-137/2017/7). Informed consent was obtained and signed by all parents/guardians of children in this study. The parents or guardians consented to fulfill the questionnaire and to collect perianal tapes on three consecutive days.
The five-years (2017 – 2022) overall positivity rate in children <15 years of age was 34.2 % (296 out of 864 children) with prevalence 35.8 %, 35.0 %, 41.6 %, 29.5 %, 25.7 % and 26.5 % in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively. The highest number of samples analyzed was in the last pre-pandemic year. The number of children tested for
There were 589 samples positive for ova of
The mean age of children positive for
Children who had at least one positive sample for
There were 615 preschool children included in the study. The majority of preschool children were enrolled in kindergarten (528, 85.8 %). The positivity rate in preschool children who were not enrolled in kindergarten was not statistically significantly lower compared to those who were attending kindergarten (20.7%, 95 % CI: 13.2 – 30.1 % and 30.9 %, 95 % CI: 27.0 – 34.9 %, respectively, p=0,057. A comparison of preschool kindergarteners to schoolchildren revealed a significant difference in positivity rate (30.9 %, 95 % CI: 27.0 – 34.9 % and 46.2 %, 95 % CI: 40.1 – 52.4 %, respectively, p=<0.001).
The frequency of health problems in patients with samples taken for
Clinical data in children tested for
Symptom | No. (%) of positive children with symptom (total No. of children = 296) | No. (%) of negative children with symptom (total No. of children = 568) | p-value |
---|---|---|---|
Nausea | 26 (8.8%) | 55 (9.7%) | 0.667 |
Abdominal discomfort | 135 (45.6%) | 300 (52.8%) | 0.044 |
Diarrhea | 31 (10.5%) | 73 (12.8%) | 0.308 |
Weight loss | 8 (2.7%) | 29 (5.1%) | 0.098 |
Insomnia | 38 (12.8%) | 90 (15.8%) | 0.238 |
Anal pruritus | 129 (43.6%) | 199 (35.0%) | 0.014 |
Vulvovaginal pruritus | 21* (14.5%) | 29* (9.3%) | 0.1 |
*For calculation of the percentage only girls (No. of positive = 145, No. of negative = 311) were taken into account.
The characteristics of children with only one positive sample out of three were compared to children with all three positive samples in the sample set. There were no statistically significant differences found for parental education level, symptoms or presence of parasite in stool (Table 2). Children with all three positive samples had a statistically significant higher mean age (p-value 0.004) and were of male gender (p-value 0.002).
Socio-demographic characteristic and clinical data in children with only one or all three positive samples for
Variable | No. (%) of children with only one positive sample (106 children) | No. (%) of children with all three positive samples (103 children) | p-value |
---|---|---|---|
Mean age | 5.43 | 6.41 | 0.004 |
Gender | |||
No. of boys | 43 (40.6%) | 64 (62.1%) | 0.002 |
No. of girls | 63 (59.4%) | 39 (37.9%) | |
Parental education | |||
Primary school | 10 (9.8%) | 3 (3.0%) | 0.126 |
Secondary school | 26 (25.5%) | 25 (24.8%) | |
University | 66 (64.7%) | 73 (72.3%) | |
No. of siblings | 1.24 | 1.4 | 0.241 |
Symptoms | |||
Nausea | 11 (10.4%) | 11 (10.7%) | 0.943 |
Abdominal discomfort | 50 (47.2%) | 51 (49.1%) | 0.735 |
Diarrhea | 12 (11.3%) | 12 (11.6%) | 0.94 |
Weight loss | 2 (1.9%) | 3 (2.9%) | 0.628 |
Insomnia | 16 (15.1%) | 11 (10.7%) | 0.341 |
Anal pruritus | 48 (45.2.%) | 45 (43.6%) | 0.817 |
Vulvovaginal pruritus | 9* (14.2%) | 5* (12.8%) | 0.834 |
*For calculation of the percentage only girls (No. of one positive sample = 63, No. of three positive samples = 39) were taken into account.
Findings from this study indicate a very high prevalence of
One of the recent studies from Berlin, Germany, found an increasing prevalence within a 10-year period of investigation. On average, 17.4 % of patients were positive, with the highest positivity rate in the 4 – 10-years age group and with higher positivity rate in male than female patients (Friesen
A considerable range of
There have been few studies published from non-EU European countries showing diverse
In the present study, the mean age of children with at least one positive tape for eggs of
In our study, enterobiasis was not more frequent in boys than in girls as some reports have shown (Friesen
In this study, significant association with
A hypothesis was developed that
The number of children tested dropped in the first pandemic year, which may reflect a decline in the number of cases or less testing and consequent increase in the under-identification of cases. Non-pharmaceutical measures intended to reduce the number of COVID-19 cases included the closure of kindergartens, distance learning and the creation of the so-called “social bubbles” – socializing with a limited number of people. There was a decline in numerous notified communicable diseases in the lock-down period and
The study limitation is that it was conducted in one community health center only in the North-Western part of Slovenia. There are no data available about how many parents were invited to participate but declined to complete the questionnaire and take samples from their children. We assume, according to our experience with similar studies, that the proportion of non-responding parents was low.
This study verified that infestation with
Clinical data in children tested for E. vermicularis infection.
Symptom | No. (%) of positive children with symptom (total No. of children = 296) | No. (%) of negative children with symptom (total No. of children = 568) | p-value |
---|---|---|---|
Nausea | 26 (8.8%) | 55 (9.7%) | 0.667 |
Abdominal discomfort | 135 (45.6%) | 300 (52.8%) | 0.044 |
Diarrhea | 31 (10.5%) | 73 (12.8%) | 0.308 |
Weight loss | 8 (2.7%) | 29 (5.1%) | 0.098 |
Insomnia | 38 (12.8%) | 90 (15.8%) | 0.238 |
Anal pruritus | 129 (43.6%) | 199 (35.0%) | 0.014 |
Vulvovaginal pruritus | 21* (14.5%) | 29* (9.3%) | 0.1 |
Socio-demographic characteristic and clinical data in children with only one or all three positive samples for E. vermicularis in a three-sample set.
Variable | No. (%) of children with only one positive sample (106 children) | No. (%) of children with all three positive samples (103 children) | p-value |
---|---|---|---|
Mean age | 5.43 | 6.41 | 0.004 |
Gender | |||
No. of boys | 43 (40.6%) | 64 (62.1%) | 0.002 |
No. of girls | 63 (59.4%) | 39 (37.9%) | |
Parental education | |||
Primary school | 10 (9.8%) | 3 (3.0%) | 0.126 |
Secondary school | 26 (25.5%) | 25 (24.8%) | |
University | 66 (64.7%) | 73 (72.3%) | |
No. of siblings | 1.24 | 1.4 | 0.241 |
Symptoms | |||
Nausea | 11 (10.4%) | 11 (10.7%) | 0.943 |
Abdominal discomfort | 50 (47.2%) | 51 (49.1%) | 0.735 |
Diarrhea | 12 (11.3%) | 12 (11.6%) | 0.94 |
Weight loss | 2 (1.9%) | 3 (2.9%) | 0.628 |
Insomnia | 16 (15.1%) | 11 (10.7%) | 0.341 |
Anal pruritus | 48 (45.2.%) | 45 (43.6%) | 0.817 |
Vulvovaginal pruritus | 9* (14.2%) | 5* (12.8%) | 0.834 |
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