THE OCCURRENCE OF HUMAN INTESTINAL PARASITES IN FINLAND

The survey of the occurrence of intestinal parasites presented here co vers 726 hospital patients, 175 healthy adults and 212 children, and 9 76 healthy Finnish holiday-makers prior to their trip abroad. Two faec al samples from each individual were examined. Further, 344 children w ere tested for Enterobius vermicularis. The total prevalence of intest inal parasites in the hospital patients was 4.2%, and that of pathogen ic parasites 2.9%. The prevalence rates in healthy subjects were 4.9% and 1.5%, respectively. Three species of pathogenic parasites were fou nd: Giardia lamblia, Entamoeba histolytica and Diphyllobothrium latum. A test for Enterobius vermicularis was positive in 5.2% of children e xamined.