Detection of Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura in various soil types from from an indigenous village in Malaysia

摘要

Soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) have been a great concern throughout the worldamong the poorest and the most deprived communities. Orang Asli (indigenous) community inMalaysia is highly prone to STHs infection due to their living environment where soilcontamination can serve as the main reservoir. This study was aimed to investigate thepresence of Trichuris trichiura and Ascaris lumbricoides eggs in the soil samples in andaround the Orang Asli villages located in Sungai Lalang Baru, Ulu Semenyih, Selangor. Thesoil samples were collected from June to November 2017 over a period of six months.Approximately 200-250 gram of soil samples were collected in a plastic bag from a depth ofabout 4-6 inches. The sedimentation and microscopic techniques was used to recover andestimate the Trichuris trichiura and Ascaris lumbricoides eggs from the soil samples. Atotal of 40 samples soil samples were collected, in which 36 (90%) were positive for A.lumbricoides and 6 (15%) were positive T. trichiura. Various soil textures like sandy, loamyand clay harbored the helminth eggs. The contaminated soil could potentially lead totransmission of the helminth eggs by natural process like rain and water movement to theirsounding environments, hence screening of soil sample in the environment serves as inindication for presence of STHs.