Age group specific differences in helminth infection intensities as expressed by egg excretion.
Domain:
healthcare
Eggs per gram (EPG) values of infected individuals in different age groups of two Zanzibari communities: rural Bandamaji and peri-urban Dole. Each person's EPG was estimated as the arithmetic mean of at least two Kato-Katz thick smear readings. Differences in the median EPG of the four age groups were determined using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Pair-wise comparisons between the median EPG of two age groups were adjusted for multiple testing as suggested by Siegel and Castellan (1988) [35]. Horizontal bars are indicating the significant differences of the median EPG between two groups. Box plot: the ends of the box represent the 75th and 25th percentiles; the middle line represents the median; the upper whisker represents the upper quartile + 1.5*(interquartile range); the lower whisker represents the lower quartile–1.5*(interquartile range). (A): EPG values of A. lumbricoides infections, Kruskal-Wallis test: p<0.001; age group 5–11 years: n = 43; age group 12–14 years: n = 22; age group 15–59 years: n = 66; age-group ≥60 years: n = 8. (B) EPG values of T. trichiura infections, Kruskal-Wallis test: p<0.001; age group 5–11 years: n = 55; age group 12–14 years: n = 29; age group 15–59 years: n = 74; age-group ≥60 years: n = 5. (C) EPG values of hookworm infections; Kruskal-Wallis test: p = 0.789; age group 5–11 years: n = 28; age group 12–14 years: n = 18; age group 15–59 years: n = 53; age-group ≥60 years: n = 10.