RESUMEN
Research in bioarchaeology and among living people provides insight into the biological and biocultural consequences of subsistence, political, and economic transitions. Central to this effort is examining infectious disease, such as diarrheal disease, respiratory infections, and parasitic infections because they are an important source of nutritional and energetic stress in both past and current groups. Although infection may not always result in overt disease, frequent exposure results in biological stress with a negative effect on child growth and, by extension, health. The goal of this article is to examine the association between a common class of infectious disease, soil-transmitted helminth worms, and nutritional status among youth living in communities that vary with respect to their distance from a commercial center. In 2007, anthropometric measurements and parasitological surveys were collected for 338 2-14-year-old children and adolescents living in lowland Bolivia as part of the Tsimane' Amazonian Panel Study. Associations between the presence of helminth infections and markers of both short- and long-term nutritional status were overall weak. Youth living in communities distant from the commercial center were more likely to be positive for multiple parasite species than youth in near communities, but youth in mid-distance communities had lower infection rates. This article demonstrates the challenge of identifying associations between nutritional and disease stress when individual and household factors are nested in a larger context of socioeconomic and environmental change. Increased collaboration between bioarchaeology and human biology should continue to examine the connections between stress and disease across time.
Asunto(s)
Infecciones por Uncinaria/etnología , Estado Nutricional/fisiología , Estrés Fisiológico/fisiología , Estrés Psicológico/etnología , Adolescente , Antropología Física , Antropometría , Arqueología , Bolivia/etnología , Niño , Fenómenos Fisiológicos Nutricionales Infantiles/fisiología , Preescolar , Estudios Transversales , Composición Familiar , Femenino , Salud/etnología , Humanos , Indígenas Sudamericanos , MasculinoRESUMEN
Indigenous communities in Argentina represent socially and economically neglected populations. They are living in extreme poverty and environmental degradation conditions. New information about health status and socio-environmental features is urgently needed to be applied in future sanitary policies. Present study describes the nutritional status, body composition, and intestinal parasitism among Mbyá-Guaraní children from three communities in the Misiones Province. Anthropometric parameters were analyzed for 178 individuals (aged 1-14). Data were transformed to z-scores using NHANES I and II. Stunting showed the greatest prevalence (44.9%). Children were found to have low arm circumference and low arm muscle area, although with tricipital skinfold value near to the reference. They also tend to have shorter than normal lower limbs. Fecal samples and anal brushes (for Enterobius vermicularis) were collected in 45 children (aged 1-13). Ritchie's sedimentation and Willis' flotation techniques were used to determine parasitoses. Ninety five percent of children were infected with at least one species and 81.4% were polyparasitized. The higher prevalences corresponded to Blastocystis hominis, hookworms (Ancylostoma duodenale/Necator americanus), and Entamoeba coli. Associations occurred between hookworms with B. hominis/E. coli and B. hominis with nonpathogenic amoebas. Thirty nine percent of the children with stunting presented B. hominis, Strongyloides, and hookworms. Our results indicate that this indigenous population is subjected to extreme poverty conditions and is one of the most marginalized in this country. Severe growth stunting and parasitic infection are still quite common among Mbyá children affecting about half of them along with significant changes in body composition and proportions.
Asunto(s)
Composición Corporal , Parasitosis Intestinales/epidemiología , Estado Nutricional/etnología , Adolescente , Animales , Argentina/epidemiología , Infecciones por Blastocystis/epidemiología , Infecciones por Blastocystis/etnología , Niño , Fenómenos Fisiológicos Nutricionales Infantiles/etnología , Preescolar , Entamebiasis/epidemiología , Entamebiasis/etnología , Enterobiasis/epidemiología , Enterobiasis/etnología , Heces/parasitología , Femenino , Trastornos del Crecimiento/etnología , Infecciones por Uncinaria/epidemiología , Infecciones por Uncinaria/etnología , Humanos , Indígenas Sudamericanos/estadística & datos numéricos , Lactante , Parasitosis Intestinales/etnología , Masculino , Músculo Esquelético , Recuento de Huevos de Parásitos , Áreas de PobrezaRESUMEN
Infectious disease, such as diarrheal disease, respiratory infections, and parasitic infections, are an important source of nutritional and energetic stress in many populations. Inspired by the research and methodological innovations of A. Roberto Frisancho, this work considers the impact of childhood environment and local disease ecology on child health and nutritional patterns among an indigenous group in lowland Bolivia. Specifically, we examine the association between soil-transmitted helminth infection, especially hookworm species, and anthropometric markers of short- and long-term nutritional status. Fecal samples, anthropometric dimensions, and health interviews were collected for 92 children ranging in age from 2.0 to 10.9 years. Microscopic examination revealed high levels of parasitic infection, with 76% of children positive for hookworm species infections (77% of girls and 74% of boys). Less common infections included Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichurius trichiura, and Strongyloides stercoralis with only 15% of children positive for multiple-species infections. After adjusting for sex and age, no statistically significant associations were observed between helminth infections and the frequency of reported illness or anthropometric measures of nutritional status. These data demonstrate the difficulty of assessing nutritional impacts of endemic infections.
Asunto(s)
Pesos y Medidas Corporales , Trastornos de la Nutrición del Niño/etnología , Helmintiasis/complicaciones , Parasitosis Intestinales/complicaciones , Animales , Bolivia/epidemiología , Niño , Trastornos de la Nutrición del Niño/etiología , Preescolar , Femenino , Helmintiasis/etnología , Infecciones por Uncinaria/complicaciones , Infecciones por Uncinaria/etnología , Humanos , Indígenas Sudamericanos , Lactante , Parasitosis Intestinales/etnología , MasculinoRESUMEN
Estimation of the prevalence of hookworm infection is usually based on finding eggs of the parasite in the stool. Eggs of the different hookworm species are difficult to distinguish and can be confused with those of hookworm-like species. Proper identification can be made after hatching the eggs and cultivating larvae to the infective stage. We have used the Harada-Mori method to study the stools of Bushnegroes in Suriname and have identified the emerged larvae. Of the 804 individuals examined, 53.6% had positive fecal cultures. The identification of emerged larvae revealed that 75% of the positive cultures contained Necator americanus and Strongyloides stercoralis was detected in 19.7%. Oesophagostomum and Ternidens species were also found. Ancylostoma duodenale larvae were not found. Six percent of fecal cultures in which larvae emerged contained only hookworm-like larvae hatching from eggs that resembled hookworm eggs. The diagnosis of hookworm infection, based solely on the microscopic detection of eggs in the stool, must be considered with special caution.