Consecutive examinations by scotch-tape perianal swabs in diagnosis of enterobiasis

In order to determine how many consecutive perianal examinations can increase the accuracy of the diagnosis of enterobiasis, nursery and kindergarten children were examined with 8 consecutive scotch-tape perianal swabs. Primary school students were examined with 4 consecutive swabs, while junior high school students were examined with one swab in the morning and another in the afternoon. The positive rates among nursery and kindergarten children increased from 17.3% and 34.6% by a single swab to 44.4% and 70.2% by 8 consecutive swabs respectively. Significant differences in rates among kindergarten children by class were found by 4 to 8 swabs (3rd year class 65.6-78.7%, 2nd year class 50.3-61.1%, 1st year class 52.3-69.5%). The rate among primary school students increased from 59.9% by a swab to 77.3% by 4 consecutive swabs. Significant differences were found among the rates by grade. The highest was detected in grade 3 and lowest in grade 6. There was no significant difference between the positive rates among junior high school students obtained in the morning (33.7%) and in the afternoon (31.3%), and also no significant difference among rates by junior school was found. There was no significant difference between positive rates by sex in kindergarten children (boys, 68.8%, girls, 71.9%) and primary school students (boys, 76.8%; girls, 77.9%). However, the positive rate of junior high school girls (47.3%) was significantly higher than that of junior high school boys (37.4%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)