Parasitic infestation in Cape Town children. A random study of 101 patients.

Over a 12-month period random stool specimens were collected from 101 children admitted to the trauma unit of the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town. The majority of the children were resident on the Cape Flats or in Mitchell's Plain. Examination of the stools showed evidence of parasitic infestation in 46 of the children, of whom 39 harboured Ascaris lumbricoides (8), Trichuris trichiura (11) or both (20). Cysts of Giardia lamblia were identified in 8 patients. These findings suggest that at least half the children living in a well-defined area of Cape Town may be at risk of complications from intestinal parasitic infestation.