Abstract
This is a result of study conducted in Shiga Prefecture in the period between 1957 and 1960 with a view to grasping the conditions of parasitic infestation in that district. The subjects of study included the citizens of 14 communities on the coast of Lake Viwa (fecal examination by centrifugal method with HCl and ether), and almost all the elementary and lower secondary school children of the Prefecture (fecal examination by direct smear method). According to the results of study, the parasitic worms suspected of the highest infestation were Trichocephalus trichiurus: the infection rates being 28.1-83.9% in the citizens, 44.5% in elementary school children and 42.5% in lower secondary school children. Those of Ascaris lumbricoides were 4.3-34.9% in the citizens, 32.2% in elementary school children and 29.8% in lower secondary school children. The infection rates of Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichocephalus trichiurus were lower on the coast of the lake and were higher in the areas farther from it.Those of hookworms were generally low. Next, infestation of Clonorchis sinensis and Metagonimus yokogawai was also detected in that district;infection rates of Clonorchis sinensis in the citizens were found to range between 2.5-54.2%.Infection rates of Clonorchis sinensis and Metagonimus yokogawai were higher in the coastal dwellers, esp.among the inhabitants of the eastern coast. Infestation of Trichostrongylus orientalis, Diphyllobothrium latum and Hemenolepis nana was also detected, though the infection rates were not so high.
