Parasite prevalence in a village in Burkina Faso: the contribution of new techniques

Abstract

Introduction: Parasites are a major public health problem in developing countries. A coproparasitological and immunoparasitological study was conducted in Burkina Faso, in the rural village of Touguri, in November and December 2011. The coproparasitologic analysis was conducted in the pediatric population and seroprevalence surveys were conducted in the adult population to research intestinal, blood, and helminth parasites.

Methodology: The coproparasitologic study was performed on stool samples using two diagnostic methods – standard microscopy and the FLOTAC technique. The total of 49 stool samples analyzed were obtained from children between two months and eleven years of age. The serology study was carried out to evaluate the prevalence of P. falciparum, Echinococcus spp., Tenia solium, and A. lumbricoides using different immunological techniques such as ELISA and Western Blot techniques. The study population included 85 adult patients between 15 and 70 years of age.

Results: Results of coproparasitological analyses showed Hymenolepis nana as the only helminth found, in 28.6% of the total number of patients. Results of serological evaluation revealed a practically null prevalence of Echinococcus, Taenia solium, and Ascaris lumbricoides, and a 77.64% prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum.

Conclusions: Despite the small number (especially in terms of coprological samples) of individuals examined, this study showed that the parasite prevalence in a rural area of Burkina Faso has a significant impact in the general population, particularly in children. Another finding was that FLOTAC had a higher sensitivity than the widely used ethyl ether-based concentration technique for coprological sample analysis.