Table 4. Intensity of STH infections among the Negritos in Peninsular Malaysia according to STH species and comparison between communities (IJV versus RPS).
| Inland Jungle Villages (IJV) | Resettlement (RPS) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STH species | n (%) | Mean epg (SE) | n (%) | Mean epg (SE) | P valuea | P valueb |
| T. trichiura | ||||||
| Overall | N = 108 | 3,105.3 (291.1) | N = 192 | 5,453.8 (612.5) | - | 0.001* |
| Light | 40 (37.0) | 768.0 (30.3) | 67 (34.9) | 745.9 (23.4) | 0.71 | 0.57 |
| Moderate | 61 (56.5) | 3,652.3 (244.3) | 92 (47.9) | 4,097.3 (255.9) | 0.15 | 0.23 |
| Severe | 7 (6.5) | 11,694.9 (382.0) | 33 (17.2) | 18,793.9 (2319.5) | 0.01* | 0.01* |
| A. lumbricoides | ||||||
| Overall | N = 60 | 16,592.0 (2316.5) | N = 120 | 18,698.7 (1794.1) | - | 0.47 |
| Light | 24 (40.0) | 2,851.0 (251.3) | 36 (30.0) | 3,182.9 (193) | 0.18 | 0.30 |
| Moderate | 27 (45.0) | 16,739.6 (1921.7) | 60 (50.0) | 14,257.8 (1460.2) | 0.53 | 0.33 |
| Severe | 9 (15.0) | 52,792.0 (767.1) | 24 (20.0) | 53,074.3 (533.6) | 0.41 | 0.78 |
| Hookworm | ||||||
| Overall | N = 39 | 1,963.1 (191.2) | N = 50 | 1,375.6 (112.9) | - | 0.01* |
| Light | 23 (59.0) | 1,283.5 (81.3) | 38 (76.0) | 1,037.8 (69.9) | 0.09 | 0.03* |
| Moderate | 14 (35.9) | 2,497.7 (128.8) | 12 (24.0) | 2,445.3 (218.7) | 0.22 | 0.21 |
| Severe | 2 (5.1) | 6,036.0 (84.0) | - | - | - | |
STH = Soil transmitted helminths; SE = Standard error of mean; epg = eggs per gram
a The P values were obtained from the comparison of the number of infected participants for each variable (%) between IJV and the RPS communities (Pearson chi-square test).
b The P values were calculated from the different of the mean epg values between IJV and the RPS communities (Independent t- test);
*Significant difference P < 0.05