Transmission of helminth eggs through hands in a high-risk community

Abstract

Background: The role that hands play in the transmission of Ascaris is not well understood.

Methods: A newly developed method to quantify the presence helminth eggs on hands was tested among a group of farmers in Vietnam. High turbidity in hand rinse samples meant that the adopted sugar solution had to be replaced by zinc sulphate as a flotation solution.

Results: The survey found 34% (31/90) of study participant hands' were positive for helminth eggs, though concentrations were low and ranged from 0-10 eggs/2 hands. The use of fresh excreta in agriculture was the only variable that showed an association with the concentrations of eggs found on hands.

Conclusions: The results highlight the need to promote handwashing with soap to prevent the transmission of soil-transmitted helminth infections.

Keywords: Hand hygiene; Helminths; Transmission; Vietnam.