Objective: To understand the status of soil-transmitted nematode infections in Poyang Lake area in Jiangxi Province.
Methods: The parasitic eggs of stools of residents aged 6-65 years were detected with the Kato-Katz technique in Fusheng Village of Poyang Lake area in Jiangxi Province in 2008.
Results: In 2008, the total average infection rate of soil-transmitted nematodes was 37.97%, and the infection rates of Ascarid lumbricoid, Trichuris trichiura and hookworm were 20.39%, 6.67% and 18.45%, respectively. The total infection rate of soil-transmitted nematodes and the rate ofA. lumbricoid were higher in the female than in the male with a statistically significant difference (P < 0.01). The infection rates of T. trichiura and hookworm in the female were higher than those in the male, but there was no significant difference between them (P > 0.05). The total infection rate of soil-transmitted nematodes and the rate of hookworm in different age groups had a similar change pattern which had an increasing trend with the age growing. The infection rate ofA. lumbricoid was the lowest in the age group of 10-19 years and was the highest in the age group of 20-29 years, and then the rate showed a gradually declining trend with the age increasing. The infection rate of T. trichiura had a decreasing trend as the age grew with 2 peaks in the age groups of 10-19 and 40-49, respectively.
Conclusions: The infection rates of soil-transmitted nematodes in population of Fusheng Village in Jiangxi Province are still high. The effective control measures include health education, regular anthelminthic treatment, innoxiously processing of stool and environment reform, and the interruption of the transmitting chain is the fundamental strategy.