The rate of ingestion of Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura eggs in soil and its relationship to infection in two children's homes in Jamaica

Wong, Michael S.; Bundy, D. A. P.; Golden, M. H. N.

doi:10.1016/0035-9203(91)90172-u

Cited by 51 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Two of the rejected earth samples contained geohelminth eggs. It appears that in Zanzibar, consumers of pica substances tend to consume earth that is parasite-free, which is in contrast to previous studies where the earth consumed by Jamaican and Kenyan children was contaminated (Geissler et al, 1998b;Wong et al, 1991). It is worth noting that two acceptable charcoal samples each contained a single parasitic nematode stage.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

“…the substance must contain viable nematode eggs or larvae). An association between earth consumption and increased Trichuris and Ascaris burden in earth consumers has been shown in several (Geissler et al, 1998a;Luoba et al, 2005;Saathoff et al, 2002;Wong et al, 1991) but not all (Vermeer and Frate, 1979) studies. Yet, to date, measurement of the parasite content of the soil has been investigated in only two sites (Geissler et al, 1998a;Wong and Bundy, 1990;Wong et al, 1991), no studies have determined the parasite content of earth consumed by adults and no studies have looked at the parasitic content of non-earth pica substances.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Geophagia is not associated with Trichuris or hookworm transmission in Zanzibar, Tanzania

Young

Goodman

Farag

et al. 2007

Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygi

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SummaryGeophagia may be harmful as a method for the transmission of geohelminths. In this study, we pose two questions in a representative sample of 970 pregnant women from Pemba Island, Zanzibar, Tanzania. Can consumed earth be a vector for geohelminth infection? And do geophagists have differential parasitic infection? The parasitological content of 59 non-food substance samples was analysed. Cross-sectional data regarding pica behaviour were collected through interviews conducted by local researchers. Ascaris, Trichuris and hookworm status was ascertained through Kato-Katz smears. The prevalence of geophagia at baseline was 5.6% and the overall prevalence of Ascaris, Trichuris and hookworm infection was 5.6%, 33.2% and 32.9%, respectively. No consumed soil samples contained infectious parasitic stages, and only one of the consumed pica substances (charcoal) contained parasites of potential risk to human health. Neither the prevalence nor the intensity of infection with Ascaris, Trichuris or hookworm differed significantly by geophagia status. Furthermore, in multivariate models, geophagia was not a significant predictor of helminth infection status. We conclude that geophagia is not a source of Trichuris or hookworm infection among pregnant women in Pemba (insufficient power to evaluate the effect of Ascaris), which is in contrast to existing findings of helminth infection and geophagia. KeywordsPica; Geophagia; Helminthiasis; Pregnancy; Parasites; Zanzibar * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 607 351 0172; fax: +1 607 255 1033. E-mail address: sly3@cornell.edu (S.L. Young). Authors' contributions: SLY conceived the substudy design, oversaw sample collection, collected ethnographic data and drafted the paper; DG determined sample preservation methods, examined pica samples, interpreted parasitology results and wrote the parasitology methods; THF designed and supervised the parasitological sample collection and analysis, and assisted with data analysis and drafting the paper; SMA assisted with substudy design, researcher training and pica sample collection;

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geophagia is not associated with Trichuris or hookworm transmission in Zanzibar, Tanzania

Young

Goodman

Farag

et al. 2007

Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygi

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“…Recent studies in Kenya 52 have con®rmed earlier studies showing geophagy to be associated with infection with geohelminths 53 and likely to be causal for ascariasis and possibly trichuriasis among primary school children. The ®rst and the second of these potential effects will be affected by the type of food consumed at or close to the time of soil consumption.…”

Section: The Impact Of Geophagy On Iron Statusmentioning

confidence: 84%

The impact of consuming iron from non-food sources on iron status in developing countries

Harvey¹,

Dexter

Darnton‐Hill

2000

Public Health Nutr.

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Objective: To determine the impact of contaminant iron and geophagy on iron intake and status of persons living in developing countries. Design: Literature for review was identi®ed by searching Medline and Agricola, from appropriate other texts and from three reports from the Opportunities for Micronutrient Interventions (OMNI) Project of USAID. Setting: The dietary intake of iron by people living in developing countries is generally high but iron de®ciency remains prevalent. This apparent paradox is because the iron being consumed is predominantly in the non-haem form, which is poorly absorbed. Some of this non-haem iron is from contamination of food with iron from soil, dust and water; iron leaching into food during storage and cooking; contamination during food processing such as milling; and the practice of geophagy.

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“…It is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly among women, who eat a variety of earth types, especially earth collected by termites and smooth, dried clay mined from particular places and traded (Vermeer 1971;Geissler et al 1997;Saathoff et al 2002). Geophagy has long been suspected to be a source of geohelminth infection (Anell & Lagercrantz 1958;Halstead 1968;Hunter 1973), but only recently has the practice been associated with infection with Ascaris lumbricoides and, although less conclusively, Trichuris trichiura, among institutionalized orphans in Jamaica (Wong et al 1991) and schoolchildren in western Kenya (Geissler et al 1998a), KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa (Saathoff et al 2002) and Lusaka, Zambia (Nchito et al 2004). The impact of geophagy on pregnant women in terms of helminth infections has not been previously studied, although anecdotal evidence suggests that it is particularly common in this group (Anell & Lagercrantz 1958).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Earth-eating and reinfection with intestinal helminths among pregnant and lactating women in western Kenya

Luoba

Geissler

Estambale

et al. 2005

Trop Med Int Health

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SummaryWe conducted a longitudinal study among 827 pregnant women in Nyanza Province, western Kenya, to determine the effect of earth-eating on geohelminth reinfection after treatment. The women were recruited at a gestational age of 14-24 weeks (median: 17) and followed up to 6 months postpartum. The median age was 23 (range: 14-47) years, the median parity 2 (range: 0-11). After deworming with mebendazole (500 mg, single dose) of those found infected at 32 weeks gestation, 700 women were uninfected with Ascaris lumbricoides, 670 with Trichuris trichiura and 479 with hookworm. At delivery, 11.2%, 4.6% and 3.8% of these women were reinfected with hookworm, T. trichiura and A. lumbricoides respectively. The reinfection rate for hookworm was 14.8%, for T. trichiura 6.65, and for A. lumbricoides 5.2% at 3 months postpartum, and 16.0, 5.9 and 9.4% at 6 months postpartum. There was a significant difference in hookworm intensity at delivery between geophagous and non-geophagous women (P ¼ 0.03). Women who ate termite mound earth were more often and more intensely infected with hookworm at delivery than those eating other types of earth (P ¼ 0.07 and P ¼ 0.02 respectively). There were significant differences in the prevalence of A. lumbricoides between geophagous and non-geophagous women at 3 (P ¼ 0.001) and at 6 months postpartum (P ¼ 0.001). Women who ate termite mound earth had a higher prevalence of A. lumbricoides, compared with those eating other kinds of earth, at delivery (P ¼ 0.02), 3 months postpartum (P ¼ 0.001) and at 6 months postpartum (P ¼ 0.001).The intensity of infections with T. trichiura at 6 months postpartum was significantly different between geophagous and non-geophagous women (P ¼ 0.005). Our study shows that geophagy is associated with A. lumbricoides reinfection among pregnant and lactating women and that intensities built up more rapidly among geophagous women. Geophagy might be associated with reinfection with hookworm and T. trichiura, although these results were less unequivocal. These findings call for increased emphasis, in antenatal care, on the potential risks of earth-eating, and for deworming of women after delivery.

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The rate of ingestion of Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura eggs in soil and its relationship to infection in two children's homes in Jamaica

Cited by 51 publications

References 13 publications

Geophagia is not associated with Trichuris or hookworm transmission in Zanzibar, Tanzania

Geophagia is not associated with Trichuris or hookworm transmission in Zanzibar, Tanzania

The impact of consuming iron from non-food sources on iron status in developing countries

Earth-eating and reinfection with intestinal helminths among pregnant and lactating women in western Kenya

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