Age-prevalence and household clustering of Strongyloides stercoralis infection in Jamaica.

The epidemiology of Strongyloides stercoralis was studied in families of clinical (reference) cases and their neighbours at endemic foci in Jamaica. Thirteen foci were studied based on the place of residence of a reference case. For each household of a reference case, the 4 most proximal neighbourhood households (spatial controls) were included in the study. Out of 312 persons contacted 244 were followed up using questionnaires, stool examination and serology. Prevalence of infection based on stool examination was 3.5% and on ELISA 24.2%. Prevalence increased with age but was not related to gender. Reference cases were significantly older than the general study population. The prevalence of infection based on both serology and stool examination was significantly higher in reference than in neighbouring households (the reference cases, themselves, were not included in the analysis). Furthermore, prevalence of infection was highest among persons who shared a bedroom with a reference case and decreased significantly with increasing spatial separation. This is indicative of close contact transmission which has not been previously shown for a geohelminth, but which is common among microparasites.