Soil Contamination with Eggs in Public Schools in Rural Areas of Southern Thailand.

Soil is considered the primary source of transmission to humans, especially children. The status of soil contamination with eggs in southern Thailand is unknown. This study aimed at estimating the soil contamination with eggs in public schools in Nakhon Si Thammarat province in southern Thailand. Soil samples were collected from 12 public schools between August and September 2017. At each site, ten soil samples were collected from the following five types of locations: (1) playgrounds, (2) football fields, (3) sidewalks, (4) schoolyards, and (5) areas around cafeterias. In total, 120 samples were examined for eggs with a modified flotation method using a sucrose solution. eggs were detected in 8 (66.7%) of the 12 studied public schools. Of the 120 soil samples, 22 (18.3%; 95% CI: 11.9, 26.4) were contaminated with eggs. The highest levels of egg contamination were observed in playgrounds (41.7%; 95% CI: 22.1, 63.4), followed by football fields (20.8%; 95% CI: 7.1, 42.2), sidewalks (12.5%; 95% CI: 2.7, 32.4), and schoolyards (12.5%; 95% CI: 2.7, 32.4). There were significant differences in the distribution of eggs across location types ( < 0.05). The findings demonstrated that the soil samples from public schools were contaminated with eggs. Playgrounds were the most heavily contaminated locations. Teaching children proper handwashing steps and discouraging geophagia should be implemented to reduce the distribution of and limit future infections.