Grups de Recerca d'Amèrica i Àfrica Llatines - GRAAL, Barcelona, Spain.
School of Medicine, Universidad Internacional del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador.
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2019 Jul;101(1):45-50. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.18-0970.
Waterborne pathogens, associated with poverty and poor sanitary conditions, are a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. There are limited data on the epidemiology of waterborne pathogens in indigenous populations living in the Amazon region. We did a cross-sectional survey in two indigenous Shuar communities in the Amazon region of Ecuador in which we documented the presence of pathogens representing different sources of environmental contamination of water. We detected protozoa and soil-transmitted helminths by microscopy of fecal samples and the presence of IgG antibodies to hepatitis A and spp. in blood samples from individuals older than 2 years and collected data by questionnaire on sociodemographic factors and knowledge of infectious diseases. Seroprevalence for hepatitis A and spp. were 98.1% (95% CI: 97.0-99.8) and 50.0% (95% CI: 43.3-56.6), respectively, whereas 62.6% (95% CI: 55.8-69.4) had enteric parasites in stool samples. In participants older than 6 years, eight of 10 had evidence of infection with or exposure to at least one of the pathogens studied. Although prevalence of pathogens varied by age, it did not vary significantly by gender, temporal migration, illiteracy, perceived morbidity, receipt of conditional cash transfers, water boiling practices, poor housing conditions, and anthropometric status. These findings indicate a high level of contamination of drinking water by human pathogens in these indigenous communities and the need for interventions to improve access to and use of clean drinking water in these marginalized communities.
水源性病原体与贫困和卫生条件差有关,是全球发病率和死亡率的主要原因。关于生活在亚马逊地区的土著人群中水源性病原体的流行病学数据有限。我们在厄瓜多尔亚马逊地区的两个土著 Shuar 社区进行了横断面调查,记录了代表不同水源环境污染来源的病原体的存在。我们通过对粪便样本进行显微镜检查来检测原生动物和土壤传播的蠕虫,并通过对年龄大于 2 岁的个体的血液样本检测甲型肝炎和 spp. 的 IgG 抗体来检测其存在情况,并通过问卷收集社会人口统计学因素和传染病知识的数据。甲型肝炎和 spp. 的血清流行率分别为 98.1%(95%CI:97.0-99.8)和 50.0%(95%CI:43.3-56.6),而在粪便样本中,有 62.6%(95%CI:55.8-69.4)存在肠道寄生虫。在年龄大于 6 岁的参与者中,有 8 人至少有感染或接触过所研究病原体之一的证据。尽管病原体的流行率因年龄而异,但与性别、临时迁移、文盲、感知发病率、获得有条件现金转移、水煮沸做法、住房条件差和人体测量状况无关。这些发现表明,这些土著社区的饮用水受到人类病原体的高度污染,需要采取干预措施,改善这些边缘化社区获得和使用清洁饮用水的机会。