Age-related aspects of parasitic morbidity among children in Perm

Objective. To analyze the dynamics of the incidence of helminthiasis among children, who live in the city of Perm.

Materials and methods. We have retrospectively analyzed the monthly reports of the Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology of the Perm Region for 2015–2020. These reports include the dynamics of the incidence of helminthiasis among four age groups of children: from 1 month to 2 years, 3–6 years, 7–14 and 15–17 years.

Results. Enterobiosis, ascariasis and toxocarosis predominate in the structure of the morbidity in the city of Perm. We found that over the past five years, there has been an increase in the incidence of enterobiosis by 16 %, but the increase in the incidence of ascariasis and toxocarosis reduced – 18 and 25 %, respectively. The rate of decline remains insufficient and the incidence of enterobiosis exceeds the All-Russian one by 2.8 times, ascariasis by 2.7 times and toxocarosis by 4.3 times in comparison with the incidence of parasitic infestations in the Russian Federation. We found that the peak incidence of each nosology falls on the preschool age from 3 to 6 years. Just at this age period, children enter organized groups for the first time, get acquainted with the world through "taste it" and have low sanitary skills.

Conclusions. A routine parasitic screening is effective, since in 2020, more than a half of sick children in Perm were identified during preventive examinations (65.7 %) and only in 34.3 % of cases the diagnosis of parasitic infestation was established on the basis of clinical data.