Abstract:

To understand the prevalence of hydatid disease among students in Yushu Prefecture, 22 schools were randomly selected from 16 towns in 6 counties including Chengduo County, Nangqian County, Qumalai County, Yushu County, Zaduo County and Zhiduo County from June to August, 2012. Students aged 7-15 were examined by B-ultrasound and serum ELISA. A total of 7 454 students were examined by B-ultrasound, of whom 58 were detected with hydatid cysts, with a prevalence of 0.78%. A total of 7 081 students were examined by ELISA, of whom 302 were detected to be positive for anti-Echinococcus antibody, with a positive rate of 4.26%. The detection rates by B ultrasound in males and females were both 0.78% (30/3 853, 28/3 601). The antibody positive rate in females was 4.62% (158/3 423), and 3.94% in males (144/3 658) (P ＞ 0.05). Among different regions, the Chengduo County had the highest B ultrasound detection rate (1.67%, 27/1 612) (χ2 = 35.224, P < 0.05), while Qumalai had the highest positive rate of anti-Echinococcus (6.68%, 82/1 228) (χ2 = 32.817, P < 0.05). Among the different age groups, the group of >14 years ranked top with regard to the detection rate by B ultrasound (1.50%, 10/666)(χ2 = 13.451, P < 0.05) and the positive rate of anti-Echinococcus (7.20%, 46/639) (χ2 = 53.284, P < 0.05). The results suggested a high prevalence and a high positive rate of anti-Echinococcus among students in Yushu Prefecture of Qinghai Province. Efforts should be made to strengthen the education and surveillance of hydatid disease among students.
  

Key words: Hydatid disease, Student, Epidemiology, Investigation, Qinghai, Yushu