The comparative study of prevalence of human parasitic infection during 2014 –2015 year; the beginning year of approach to the AEC community. Background:ParasiticinfectionsofhumanremainacauseofhealthproblemsinpartofSouthEastAsia(SEA) region.AccordingtoASEANEconomicCommunity(AEC) opening,pathogenicparasitescaneasilyspreadto10membercountriesbytravelers. Objective:Theobjectiveinthisstudyweretoinvestigatehuman’spathogenicparasiteinfecalandbloodspecimensandcomparedprevalenceofinfectionbetween2014(beforeAECopening) and2015(AECcommunityyearopening) toinspectatrendofinfectionintoourcountry. Materials/Methods:Datawerecollectedfrom9,608casestotalsinceJanuary2014toDecember2015.Stoolconcentrationtechniqueusingformalin‐ethylacetate,wasusedtoincreaseprobabilityoffindingparasitesinfeces.Ontheotherhand,thickandthinbloodsmearwerepreparedfromperipheralbloodsampleforinvestigatingblood‐borneparasiticinfection.Percentageofparasiticprevalenceineachyearwascalculatedandpresentedusingdescriptivestatistics. Results:Theresultspresentedthattotalprevalencerateofparasiticinfectionswas1.24%(53/4,272) and1.42%(76/5,336) in2014and2015respectively.In2015,prevalencerateofBlastocystishominis (27/4,272) andStrongyloidesstercoralis (10/4,272) infectionsincreased1.4timeswhencomparedto2014(B.hominis (46/5,336)andS.stercoralis (16/5,336)).Inaddition,Opisthorchisviverrini (3/5,336) andMinuteegg(2/5,336) werenewemergedin2015aswellasotherparasitessuchasGiardialamblia,Taeniaspp.,EntamoebacoliandPlasmodiumspp.,buttheywerefoundinthelowinfectionrate. Conclusions:Thisstudyrevealedthattotalparasiticinfectionratein2015wasslightlyincreasedfrom2014.OpeningofAECseemstoaffectpublichygieneprobleminthisregion.Thisstudyserveddatabaseformonitoringandpredictingthetrendofprevalencerateinthefuture.Nevertheless,continuousdatacollectionwillfulfillandimprovetherecentinformation. Keywords:AEC,Parasite,Infection,Trend,Prevalence

1. The comparative study of prevalence of human parasitic infection during 2014 –
2015 year; the beginning year of approach to the AEC community.
Kridsada Sirisabhabhorn, Supaporn Pumpa and Palakorn Puttaruk
Medical Technology Laboratory, Thammasat University Hospital, Pathumtani Province, Thailand 12120
Background: Parasitic infections of human remain a cause of health problems in part of South East Asia (SEA) region. According to ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)
opening, pathogenic parasites can easily spread to 10 member countries by travelers.
Objective: The objective in this study were to investigate human’s pathogenic parasite in fecal and blood specimens and compared prevalence of infection between
2014 (before AEC opening) and 2015 (AEC community year opening) to inspect a trend of infection into our country.
Materials/Methods: Data were collected from 9,608 cases total since January 2014 to December 2015. Stool concentration technique using formalin‐ethyl acetate, was
used to increase probability of finding parasites in feces. On the other hand, thick and thin blood smear were prepared from peripheral blood sample for investigating
blood‐borne parasitic infection. Percentage of parasitic prevalence in each year was calculated and presented using descriptive statistics.
Results: The results presented that total prevalence rate of parasitic infections was 1.24% (53/4,272) and 1.42% (76/5,336) in 2014 and 2015 respectively. In 2015,
prevalence rate of Blastocystis hominis (27/4,272) and Strongyloides stercoralis (10/4,272) infections increased 1.4 times when compared to 2014 (B. hominis (46/5,336)
and S. stercoralis (16/5,336)). In addition, Opisthorchis viverrini (3/5,336) and Minute egg (2/5,336) were new emerged in 2015 as well as other parasites such as Giardia
lamblia, Taenia spp., Entamoeba coli and Plasmodium spp., but they were found in the low infection rate.
Conclusions: This study revealed that total parasitic infection rate in 2015 was slightly increased from 2014. Opening of AEC seems to affect public hygiene problem in
this region. This study served database for monitoring and predicting the trend of prevalence rate in the future. Nevertheless, continuous data collection will fulfill and
improve the recent information.
Key words: AEC, Parasite, Infection, Trend, Prevalence
Introduction
Parasitic infection has remained remain problem in region of
tropical country, developing country. Many factors or facilities support
biological life span of parasites and outbreak spreading. Nowadays, the
policy of globalization of each country because the opening of economic
community that contribute to moving of employees so they can carry
some virulent parasites and their genetics to host country. Hence, the
monitoring and surveillance are important role to control in outbreak of
parasitic disease. The objective of this study is comparative surveying of
parasite infection in patients who had attended in Thammasat University
Hospital , Pathumtani province in interruption before (2014) & in phase
(2015) years of AEC (Asian Economic Community) grand opening
Method
Parasitic diagnosis
data base from
medical record
2014 year
Total (N) = 4,272
2015 year
Total (N) = 5,336
Infection cases
Total (n) = 53
Infection cases
Total (n) = 76
Analysis by descriptive statistic
% infection of each year = Number of infection cases
Total number of each year
Result
0.63
0.23
0.07
0
0.023
0.19
0.07
0.023
0 0
0.86
0.3
0
0.06
0.02
0.04 0.04
0.02
0.06
0.04
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
% infection
% parasites infection comparison between 2014 & 2015 yr.
2014 yr
2015 yr
No. Parasites
Year
2014 (N=4,272) 2015 (N = 5,336)
Positive cases (n) Positive cases (n)
1. Blastocystis homonis 27 46
2. Strongyloides stercoralis 10 16
3. Taenia spp. 3 0
4. Opisthorchis viverrini 0 3
5. Plasmodium falciparum 1 1
6. Plasmodium vivax 8 2
7. Entamoeba coli 3 2
8. Giardia lamblia 1 1
9. Trichomonas spp. 0 3
10. Minute intestinal 0 2
Summary 53 76
Discussion & Conclusion
References
This study is illustrated total higher parasitic infection rates as 1.42 % in 2015 yr., during in ACE official opening than 2014 yr, before ACE opening, consider with
table 1 and graph 1. Blastocystis homonis is the highest amount of infection rate all 2 years and emerge 3 kinds parasites in 2015 yr are Opisthorchis viverrini,
Trichomonas spp. and Minute intestinal. Interestingly, couple of Blastocystis homonis and Strongyloides stercoralis – water born transmission‐ percent infection rate
in 2015 yr are increase almost 1.4 folds higher than 2014 yr. Perhaps, the geology of South East Asia region which is basin of water, moist climate, socioeconomic
and poor hygiene are significant factors for parasite spreading [1, 2, 3].
This study introduces suspicion that slightly increasing trend of parasite infection rate open AEC year in the beginning and should be monitor upcoming trend
of parasitic infection rate in our country. Limitation in sample size is require to expanding data so will be predictable with precise.
Table 1. Comparison data in parasite positive cases between 2014 with 2015 year
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385897‐9.00004‐5.
2. Brooker S, Singhasivanon P, Waikagul J, Supavej S, Kojima S, Takeuchi T, et al. Mapping soil‐transmitted helminths in Southeast Asia and implications for parasite control. Southeast Asian J Trop Med.
2003;34(1):24–36.
3. Strunz EC, Addiss DG, Stocks ME, Ogden S, Utzinger J, Freeman MC. Water, sanitation, hygiene and soil‐transmitted helminth infection: a systematic review and meta‐analysis. PLoS Med. 2014;11(3):e1001620.
Abstract