A profile of ascariasis morbidity in Rangoon Children's Hospital, Burma

The Rangoon Children's Hospital (RCH) inpatient summary returns from hospital wards from 1981 to 1983 and the surgical operation registers from 1983 to 1984 were studied and analysed in relation to ascariasis morbidity. The majority (57.7%) of clinical manifestations of ascariasis responsible for hospital admission were due to intestinal obstruction, the next most common manifestation was intestinal colic (33.0%). Mean ages for the two conditions were 5.9 years and 7.6 years, respectively. Hospital admissions due to ascariasis varied greatly by season and were significantly higher in the months of May, June and July. Ascariasis was responsible for about 3% of admissions to the hospital. Of the total ascariasis cases, 61.6% were treated in the surgical wards. Moreover, 57.6% of all the acute abdominal cases in the surgical wards were clinically diagnosed to be due to Ascaris lumbricoides infection. In 1983 and 1984, 43 cases of abdominal surgery were performed due to adult Ascaris worms, representing 16.7% of all the acute abdominal conditions operated. Of these 43 cases, intestinal obstruction constituted 65.1%, followed by appendicitis at 20.9%. The mean age of those undergoing surgery for Ascaris-induced abdominal complications was 6.8 years. The validity of some of the clinical data and the public health significance of this study are briefly discussed. The findings are also compared with those of other hospital-based studies.