Background: Helminth infections continue to pose serious health problems in Thailand. The infections of greatest concern are opisthorchiasis and hookworm. Objectives: We evaluated the prevalence of these infections. The Thai Ministry of Health established a national health plan in 1995 to coordinate health plans for the provincial public health sectors. Methods: A national survey based on probability sampling, interviews, and stool examinations was conducted in 2009 to gather prevalence information of the helminth infections. Results: We found an overall prevalence of helminthiasis among 15,555 Thai people of 18.1%. The highest prevalence was found in the northeastern regions of Thailand. By comparison with previous surveys conducted over the past 5 decades, the prevalence rates have decreased. However, pockets of high infection remain, particularly in the north and northeast of Thailand. Conclusions: Targeted intervention by means of educational programs and public health intervention, and continuing surveillance are indicated.

Intestinal capillariasis caused by Capillaria philippinensis appeared first in the Philippines and subsequently in Thailand, Japan, Iran, Egypt and Taiwan; major outbreaks have occurred in the Philippines and Thailand. This article reviews the epidemiology, history and sources

Opisthorchiasis is an overlooked danger to Southeast Asia. High-resolution disease risk maps are critical but have not been available for Southeast Asia. Georeferenced disease data and potential influencing factor data were collected through a systematic review of literatures and open-access databases, respectively. Bayesian spatial-temporal joint models were developed to analyze both point- and area-level disease data, within a logit regression in combination of potential influencing factors and spatial-temporal random effects. The model-based risk mapping identified areas of low, moderate, and high prevalence across the study region. Even though the overall population-adjusted estimated prevalence presented a trend down, a total of 12.39 million (95% Bayesian credible intervals [BCI]: 10.10–15.06) people were estimated to be infected with O. viverrini in 2018 in four major endemic countries (i.e., Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam), highlighting the public health importance of the disease in the study region. The high-resolution risk maps provide valuable information for spatial targeting of opisthorchiasis control interventions.

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Thailand is undergoing social and economic changes that accompany rapid development. Positive trends include impressive advances in both the science and technology, as well as rapidly rising education levels among all segments of the society. Along with rapidly increasing literacy rates, higher education is becoming increasingly available, accompanied by advances in public health. Prevention and control programmes dealing with parasitic diseases have been developed and implemented. However, even with these advances, parasitic diseases still remain a serious concern for the public health system in Thailand. Many factors influence the survival and transmission rates of parasites, as in the case of liver fluke infections in northeast Thailand, where people frequently enjoy eating raw fish. Hookworms and roundworms are more frequently found in southern Thailand, where heavy rainfall and temperatures create conditions of high humidity and permit the survival and development of many parasite species.The Mae Ngad Reservoir is located in Mae Tang district, and the Mae Kuang Udomtara is located in Doi Saket district, Chiang Mai province, Thailand. It serves as an important area for agriculture and fisheries in northern Thailand. There are many aquatic animals, in particular cyprinoid fish, which serve as the intermediate hosts for trematode parasites that are causes of fish-borne zoonotic parasitic diseases. Trematodes of the genus Haplorchis (Heterophyidae) are found in the small intestines of various definitive hosts, such as birds, cats, dogs, and rats. Humans and other definitive hosts are infected by eating raw freshwater fish containing encysted metacercariae. Thus, the present study was designed to investigate the prevalence of heterophyid metacercariae in freshwater fish in northern Thailand.Trematodes are parasites of various animals; they are dorsoventrally flat and hermaphroditic, and require one or more intermediate hosts. To complete their life cycle, specific species of intermediate hosts must be available for trematode development. Infections are food-borne and are now emerging as a major public health problem, with more than 50 million people infected globally [1]. A series of developmental stages occur within the snail hosts (sporocysts and rediae), eventually producing cercariae, which are released into the water. These cercariae then encyst in the tissues of freshwater fish (cyprinoid fish) and become metacercariae. When infected freshwater fish are ingested raw, the metacercariae infect the human host. In Southeast Asia, especially Thailand, eating raw fish is a tradition.