Preschool children in the Kingdom of Eswatini are excluded from the national school-based deworming programme and had never been surveyed for parasitic infection. During June 2019 we conducted a cross-sectional baseline survey of 261 children (mean age 4.8 ± 0.75 years) attending 16 kindergartens and community care points across 4 provinces. was sought on peri-anal cellophane/Scotch-tape swabs (n = 261); in single urine specimens by the chamber-tube microscope-slide (CTMS) sedimentation method (n = 232); and intestinal helminths and protozoa in single stool specimens by the merthiolate-iodine-formaldehyde (MIF) concentration method (n = 175). Pinworm prevalence was 3.8% (10/261) and did not differ by sex (p = 0.76) or province (p = 0.83). ova were found in 0.9% (2/232), both in boys from recognised endemic foci. Intestinal parasites were detected in 41.1% (72/175), with no significant sex (p = 0.64) or regional (p = 0.70) variation; protozoa predominated (97.2% of positives) over helminths (4.2%; all ), the commonest species being (61.1%) and (34.7%). These first baseline data reveal a high burden of intestinal protozoa alongside a low but measurable burden of pinworm and urogenital schistosomiasis in Eswatini preschool children, and support extending screening and preventive chemotherapy to this previously unmonitored age group using the simple, field-deployable cellophane-swab, CTMS and MIF methods.
BT - Journal of helminthology C1 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/42757648 DA - 09/2026 DO - 10.1017/S0022149X26102260 J2 - J Helminthol LA - ENG M3 - Article N2 -Preschool children in the Kingdom of Eswatini are excluded from the national school-based deworming programme and had never been surveyed for parasitic infection. During June 2019 we conducted a cross-sectional baseline survey of 261 children (mean age 4.8 ± 0.75 years) attending 16 kindergartens and community care points across 4 provinces. was sought on peri-anal cellophane/Scotch-tape swabs (n = 261); in single urine specimens by the chamber-tube microscope-slide (CTMS) sedimentation method (n = 232); and intestinal helminths and protozoa in single stool specimens by the merthiolate-iodine-formaldehyde (MIF) concentration method (n = 175). Pinworm prevalence was 3.8% (10/261) and did not differ by sex (p = 0.76) or province (p = 0.83). ova were found in 0.9% (2/232), both in boys from recognised endemic foci. Intestinal parasites were detected in 41.1% (72/175), with no significant sex (p = 0.64) or regional (p = 0.70) variation; protozoa predominated (97.2% of positives) over helminths (4.2%; all ), the commonest species being (61.1%) and (34.7%). These first baseline data reveal a high burden of intestinal protozoa alongside a low but measurable burden of pinworm and urogenital schistosomiasis in Eswatini preschool children, and support extending screening and preventive chemotherapy to this previously unmonitored age group using the simple, field-deployable cellophane-swab, CTMS and MIF methods.
PB - Cambridge University Press PY - 2026 T2 - Journal of helminthology TI - Epidemiological screening of pinworm, schistosomiasis, and intestinal parasites in Eswatini preschoolers. VL - 100 SN - 1475-2697 ER -