Transmission of helminth eggs through hands in a high-risk community.
Gulliver, Francesca;
Jeandron, Aurelie;
Nguyen, Viet Anh;
Do, Hong Anh;
Ensink, Jeroen HJ;
(2014)
Transmission of helminth eggs through hands in a high-risk community.
Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 108 (10).
pp. 670-672.
ISSN 0035-9203
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/trstmh/tru115
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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.
