Few diseases are so closely related to life conditions like the parasitosis. Although they can affect anyone, those who do not have drinking water or some secure system excreta treatment; for example, something seemingly as simple as a bathroom.
The most affected are Boys. In addition to symptoms like anal itching, diarrhoea, bloating and abdominal pain, nervousness or irritabilitysuffering from parasites at a young age can cause malnutrition and affect the intellectual and cognitive development later. And it’s worrying, because he has intestinal parasites More than half of the child population of our country.
“Los parasites they are organisms visible and invisible to the human eye, which for their survival require another species called Guest. Las intestinal parasites they are probably the most frequent disease of the digestive tract in the whole world and Argentina is no stranger: more than half of the boys have parasites -says Edgardo Smecuoldoctor of Hospital Bonorino Udaondo and former president of the Argentine Society of Gastroenterology (SAGE)–. It is a pathology of poverty and our country has a large population below the poverty line. poverty. For the second year since SAGEwe organize a campaign addressed to the media, the population and doctors to spread information regarding the problem”.
An investigation published in 2017 conducted by the biologist Graciela Navonefrom the Center for Parasitological and Vector Studies (Cepave) of the National University of La Plata (UNLP) on preschool and primary school children indicated that the highest frequency of parasites with protozoa was found in Missionswith 66.5% of children affected, and the lowest in Chubut, with 19.2%. In the province of Buenos Aires it was 42.2%.
What is being done at the official level to address the problem? The attempt to THE NATION for talking with Graciela Santillán, head of the Department of Parasitology of ANLIS-Malbrán, was unsuccessful. The specialist did not respond to the emails and the press office in charge of that organization did not respond to this newspaper either. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health of the Nation did not respond to the query.
“The frequencies of parasites in Argentina respond to the complex mosaic of climatic and socioeconomic variability of the country and reveal a downward trend from north to south and from east to west. The ones that are most present in our population are the protozoa and among these the most harmful are the giardia, a cosmopolitan parasite that is here and all over the world”, explains Navone.
In addition to a developing immune system, boys have habits that put them more at risk. “They are more in contact with polluted environments, they play with the land and the water,” he explains. Jaime AltchehHead of Parasitology Ricardo Gutierrez Hospital and clinical researcher of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires and the Conicet–. An important issue is pets. They must be dewormed periodically and carry out responsible management of the excreta of Dogs and cats. The toxocara it is a parasite that dogs eliminate; the giardia They are eliminated by dogs and cats.
“Los oxiurosfor example, are very common parasites in boys and produce a lot itch. They scratch their anal area, carry pinworm eggs in their nails, put their hands in their mouths or play with other boys and infect and autoinfect permanently,” he adds. lucio gonzalezpediatrician and pediatric gastroenterologist of the San Justo Municipal Children’s Hospital.
González affirms that the parasites are associated with the poor absorption of nutrients and vitamins, which the body performs largely within the intestine. “There are children who may not be less intelligent, but they may have disorders in solving complex problems. Let’s not forget that the gut is our second brain,” she details.
The soil contaminationSmecuol explains, is key: “The soil becomes infected with fecal matter parasitized in places where the water is not safe and is contaminated with excreta. From the soil, the parasites reach the intestine in two ways: in some cases the eggs they go through the skin, and that is why we suggest not to go barefoot. But the greatest contamination arises from the fecal-oral transmission: Children live by putting things in their mouths and if there is no way to wash hands and nails with safe water, or there are no toilets or sewers and people have to defecate in the open, infections spread quickly and silently. If the water is not safe, food such as vegetables cannot be washed well either. And another source of infection is undercooked meats”, he lists.
González describes that although there are very visible parasites, which are eliminated in the form of worms in fecal matter, there are many that are not seen. “Symptoms like chronic diarrhoea, low weight, abdominal pain digestive symptoms such as frequent skin or respiratory infections they should suspect parasites”, he warns.
A crucial step is diagnosis, emphasizes Alcheh. “You have to do analysis of fecal matter. We always advocate indicating a antiparasitario following a correct diagnosis. There is no human resistance to antiparasitics, but there might be if they are used indiscriminately, as is the case with cattle. At the hospital where I work [de niños Ricardo Gutiérrez]fecal matter analyzes are adequately carried out and there is medication also”.
However, stool analysis may not be enough. “There are some parasites that require the test of Graham. For example, pinworms –adds Smecuol–. To diagnose them, a special tape is placed in the perianal area because the eggs accumulate there and are not always possible to identify through a fecal matter analysis.
Smecuol points out that in the public pediatric hospitals the State has antiparasitic medication available (which is taken by orally) to deliver free of charge, and that if the hospital does not have an available supply, it can be managed through procedures. “It is inexpensive medication, very effective and safe, but the logistics to get it should be simpler so that people can access it more easily. Each type of parasite is combated with a specific medication and, in some cases, the treatment must be repeated a few weeks later, with the aim of eliminating the adult parasites that hatched from the eggs that resisted the first dose of medicine,” he says. It is not always necessary to treat the entire cohabiting family nucleus.
Smecuol adds that between 2000 and 2015 they were carried out in the country deworming programs in areas of high and medium prevalence (from 25 to 50% of the affected population). “It was called Massive and Repeated Anthelmitic Treatment (TAMR) –he explains–. It is a suggestion from international organizations and it would be desirable for it to continue”.
“Just as there are programs for patients with diabetes or with VIH sida, there should also be them to treat people in pockets of parasites, to make an active intervention. But right now we are unprotected,” adds González, emphasizing that “one might kill most of the parasites washing hands well”.
In this sense, Navone, who has been studying parasites for more than 40 years, comments that his group is carrying out a pilot survey in a population close to the city of La Plata and that verified a decrease in infections. “There the environmental conditions did not improve, they continue to have the same lack of sewers and drinking water, but due to the coronavirus increased their personal care. They began to incorporate the habit of washing their hands more frequently, treating the food they eat raw better, purifying the water by boiling or chlorination. And we found less parasitosis due to these preventive behaviors, ”he clarified.
According to specialist, the issue of parasites stigmatizes the poorest populations without analyzing the complexity of the problem. “Many times we have put money out of our pocket to visit endemic areas, such as the province of Misiones, seeking to bring some solution -he says-. And we have seen that people lack information. In that province there is a parasite that enters through the feet and people go barefoot. We explain the risk and the next day many were wearing slippers or shoes. ‘They had never told us what you explained to us,’ a man over 50 years old told us. We also frequently see that when a patient shows up with a picture of gastroenteritis, doctors always think of something else, never parasites”.