Frequency of helminths and their relationship with environmental quality in sand from San José de Montecristi beach, Ecuador

Abstract

The beach, in addition to being a recreational center for thousands of tourists, contains a large number of microorganisms of various species. Most pathogens remain present in the sand, causing a high possibility of human-parasite infection, especially by direct contact and poor hygiene habits. The objective was to determine helminths and their relationship with the quality of the sanitary environment in the sand of San José beach of Montecristi canton, being a study descriptive-non-experimental design of a prospective and cross-sectional type, with a scope explanatory. 60 sand samples were collected from different geographical points, the same were selected randomly in 3 different areas deciding that 20 samples of sand in each established sector, to the microscopic examination, the Willis and spontaneous sedimentation methods were used, in addition of the use of an observation guide to determine those environmental indicators (presence or traces of animals, solid waste, presence of tourists, tourist season, humidity of sand, temperature) that contribute to the development of helminths in the sand. As result, it was obtained that 9 (15%) samples were positive for pathogens specifically nematode larvae, and no statistically significant relationship was found between the environmental quality indicators studied and the presence of helminths. It's necessary that appropriate measures are implemented for the elimination of waste found in the sand of beaches, it is also recommended that more studies be carried out related to the subject to be able to reduce zoonoses that affect the health of the populations.