UCSD Winter 2007
Prevalence Study for Intestinal Parasites (10/20/07 – 10/27/07)
Boaco, Nicaragua
Team Members
Allen Ho
Nicholas Gastelum
Christina Pham
Michael Fenlon
This prevalence study was the second UCSD chapter trip, and the result of a co-joined effort undertaken with the physicians and NGO workers at AMOS Health and Hope (AMOS). We were able to screen all the primary school children in the San Jose de Los Remates municipality within the Boaco department of Nicaragua for intestinal parasites and anemia. This was accomplished by taking blood and fecal samples from over 500 children (in addition to height/weight measurements, questionnaires, and other basic health indicators) and analyzing them in our mobile Project Nicaragua laboratory, funded in large part by the Strauss Foundation. Our efforts will help steer the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health's national deworming campaign. This is the first time such a comprehensive study has been done in the nation, and the worm prevalence data will help dictate the frequency and intensity of the Ministry's national treatment regimen.




