{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]],"date-time":"2026-07-14T12:50:33Z","timestamp":1784033433114,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"4","funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100004440","name":"Wellcome Trust","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100004440","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["BMJ Open"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2018,3,15]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2018,4]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title><jats:p>The estimation of prevalence and intensity of soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections at a country-level is an essential prerequisite for the implementation of a rational control programme. The aim of this present study was to estimate the prevalence and distribution of STH infections and malnutrition in school-age children in rural areas of Ecuador.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Design<\/jats:title><jats:p>Cross-sectional study from October 2011 to May 2012.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Setting<\/jats:title><jats:p>Eighteen rural schools were randomly selected from the three ecological regions of Ecuador (coastal, highlands and Amazon basin).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Participants<\/jats:title><jats:p>920 children aged 6\u201316 years.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Main outcome measures<\/jats:title><jats:p>Prevalence and intensity of STH infections associated with malnutrition (thinness\/wasting or stunting).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The results showed that 257 (27.9%) children were infected with at least one STH parasite. The prevalence of<jats:italic>Trichuris trichiura<\/jats:italic>,<jats:italic>Ascaris lumbricoides<\/jats:italic>and hookworm was 19.3%, 18.5% and 5.0%, respectively. Malnutrition was present in 14.2% of children and most common was stunting (12.3%). Compared with other regions, schoolchildren in the Amazon region had the highest STH prevalence (58.9%) of which a greater proportion of infections were moderate\/heavy intensity (45.6%) and had the highest prevalence of malnutrition (20.4%). A positive association was observed between moderate to heavy infections with<jats:italic>A. lumbricoides<\/jats:italic>and malnutrition (adjusted OR 1.85, 95%\u2009CI 1.04 to 3.31, p=0.037).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>Our estimate of the prevalence of STH infections of 27.9% at a national level in Ecuador is lower than suggested by previous studies. Our data indicate that schoolchildren living in the Amazon region have a greater risk of STH infection and stunting compared with children from other regions. The implementation of school-based preventive chemotherapy and nutritional supplement programmes within the Amazon region should be prioritised. Long-term control strategies require improvements in water, sanitation and hygiene.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2017-021319","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,4,28]],"date-time":"2018-04-28T13:50:48Z","timestamp":1524923448000},"page":"e021319","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":50,"title":["Soil-transmitted helminth infections and nutritional status in Ecuador: findings from a national survey and implications for control strategies"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"8","author":[{"given":"Ana L","family":"Moncayo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Raquel","family":"Lovato","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Philip J","family":"Cooper","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,4,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"2024051712231975000_8.4.e021319.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pt.2003.10.002"},{"key":"2024051712231975000_8.4.e021319.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/1756-3305-7-37"},{"key":"2024051712231975000_8.4.e021319.3","first-page":"133","article-title":"Soil-transmitted helminthiases: estimates of the number of children needing preventive chemotherapy and number treated, 2012","volume":"89","author":"WHO","year":"2014","journal-title":"Wkly Epidemiol Rec"},{"key":"2024051712231975000_8.4.e021319.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1740-8709.2007.00127.x"},{"key":"2024051712231975000_8.4.e021319.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.320.7251.1697"},{"key":"2024051712231975000_8.4.e021319.6","unstructured":"WHO. 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