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Contributions of ascariasis to poor nutritional status in children from Chiriqui Province, Republic of Panama

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

D. L. Taren ,
M. C. Nesheim ,
D. W. T. Crompton ,
Celia V. Holland ,
Irma Barbeau ,
Gloria Rivera ,
Diva Sanjur ,
Jean Tiffany  and
Katherine Tucker
D. L. Taren
Affiliation:
College of Public Health, University of South Florida
M. C. Nesheim
Affiliation:
Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University
D. W. T. Crompton*
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Glasgow
Celia V. Holland
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Trinity College, Dublin
Irma Barbeau
Affiliation:
Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University
Gloria Rivera
Affiliation:
Sistema Integrado de Salud, David, Republic of Panama
Diva Sanjur
Affiliation:
Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University
Jean Tiffany
Affiliation:
Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University
Katherine Tucker
Affiliation:
Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University
*
*Reprint requests: D. W. T. Crompton. Department of Zoology. University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ.
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Summary

Relationships between ascariasis and lactose digestion and between ascariasis and food transit time from mouth to caecum were investigated in young children from Chiriqui Province, Republic of Panama. The breath hydrogen method was used in both studies. Ascaris-infected children showed a significantly poorer degree of lactose digestion following a test oral load than uninfected children. Recovery of the capacity of the children to digest lactose was still not fully complete for at least 3 weeks following anthelmintic treatment. On average, the mouth-to-caecum transit time was similar in infected and uninfected children, but among the Ascaris-infected children the transit time tended to be shorter in relation to the intensity of infection. Evidence from a cross-sectional survey indicated that ascariasis was significantly associated with reduced plasma vitamin A and carotenoid concentrations. This relationship remained after controlling for a range of socio-economic variables. Ascaris-infected children were frequently found to have lower haematocrits and blood haemoglobin concentrations than uninfected children, but these relationships could not be attributed to ascariasis alone.

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 95 , Issue 3 , December 1987 , pp. 603 - 613
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

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