Abstract
Parasitological surveys were carried out on the fecal and blood samples from the Vietnamese refugees living in the Motobu House for the Vietnamese, Motobu, Okinawa, Japan. Intestinal helminths were detected in 444 (67.1 %) of 662 refugees examined. Ascaris infection was the most prevalent (56.3%), followed by Trichuris (21.8%), hookworms (18.4%) and Strongyloides (2.3%) infections. Hymenolepis nana infection was observed in three cases, and Taenia saginata, Fasciolopsis buski and Clonorchis sinensis infections in each one case. In almost all age groups, the prevalence was over 50 per cent, and incidence of infection was higher in males than in females. In general, the condition of helminthic infections in the refugees resembled those reported in the urban areas in South Vietnam.Intestinal protozoans were observed in 50 (18.2%) of 274 persons examined. Endolimax nana (11.3%), Entamoeba coli (4.7%) and Giardia lamblia (3.6%) were found but E. histolytica was not detected. Malarial parasites and microfilariae were not demonstrated in the blood samples from 311 persons although three cases of benign tertian malaria have been recorded among refugees in the house. The significance of these parasitic infections in the health of Vietnamese refugees and the influence to the public health status of the inhabitants living around the refugee camp were discussed.
