Helminthic infestations in the Tyrol, Austria

• Published in: Clinical microbiology and infection Vol. 7; no. 11; pp. 639 - 641
• Main Authors: Tomaso, H., Dierich, M.P., Allerberger, F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Elsevier Ltd 01-11-2001; Blackwell Science Ltd; Blackwell; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Animals; Austria; Austria - epidemiology; Biological and medical sciences; Heleminths; Helminthiasis - diagnosis; Helminthiasis - epidemiology; Helminthiasis - parasitology; Helminthic diseases; Helminths - classification; Helminths - isolation & purification; Humans; Infectious diseases; infestation; Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic - diagnosis; Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic - epidemiology; Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic - parasitology; Medical sciences; Miscellaneous; Parasitic diseases; prevalence; Austria; Europe; prevalence; infestation; Austria; Heleminths; Infection; Human; Prevalence; Parasitosis; Epidemiology; Helminthiasis
• ISSN: 1198-743X; 1469-0691
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1198-743x.2001.00332.x

At the federal public health laboratory, Innsbruck, 142 426 samples were examined for intestinal helminthosis from 1990 until 2000. Enterobius vermicularis accounted for half (49.7%) of the cases diagnosed, followed by Taenia saginata (28.3%), Ascaris lumbricoides (12.8%), and Trichuris trichiura (3.9%). Of all specimens tested for helminths, 26% had been positive in 1945, and 0.98% in 1985. The proportion of positive findings with respect to the total number of specimens tested was 0.24% in the time span 1990–2000. It appears to us that these numbers fairly reflect the real prevalence of helminthosis in Austria.