[Development of the prevalence rate of four intestinal parasites in children].

During the last 2 decades, the same coprological techniques for the detection of parasites have been applied by the same team in the parasitology laboratories of the Children's Hospital of Bordeaux. A marked decrease in the prevalence of the most frequently occurring parasites (Giardia and Entamoeba coli cysts, Ascaris and Trichocephale eggs) has been observed. Similar results have also been found in other French parasitology laboratories. This reduction in the parasite infection rate is concomitant with a sustained improvement in public hygiene and the living standards of families. It is also likely that an evolution in childhood behaviour at school, outdoors, and at home, accounts for a decrease in intestinal parasites.