CONTIGUOUS CLUSTER BOUNDARIES OF HELMINTHIASIS: INDIA GROUND LEVEL RESEARCH

To be precise, India being a tropical and endemic country at the high risk zone of Helminthiasis with warm and moist climate it supports and accelerates the survival and growth of parasitic eggs and larvae of helminth species. As per the statistics of WHO, India yields about 25% of the global cases [1]. To understand the prevalence and spatial distribution of Helminthiasis in several geographical sites of India I prepared a Questionnaire and distributed it for a comprehensive baseline census of individuals from various distinct sites of India. And also underwent meta-analysis of several systematic literature published based on the PRISMA guidelines and correlated it with the statistics provided by WHO [1]. The most common parasites were revealed to be Ascaris lumbricoides, Ancylostoma duodenale [hookworm] and Trichuris trichiura [whipworm]. Faecal-Oral route transmission itself reveals that the infection targets the developing countries with poor sanitation methods and socio-economic status. In India the highest prevalence was found in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam and the lowest prevalence in Madhya Pradesh and the valleys of Kashmir [2]. The data provided by the census revealed that 53.5% of infections were caused by A. lumbricoides being the dominant species targeting the age group below 20 witnessing 60.3% cases from the rural areas. The survey also addresses that the infection targets the children belonging to the age group of 1-19 years. Though Indian government initiated a massive deworming program globally still it has accelerating cases of infection due to improper sanitation. Proper sanitation and hygiene practices should be established along with deworming medications biannually in order to drive the infectious rate down.