| Abstract
| - Abstract. In order to determine the prevalence of Cryptosporidium and other intestinal parasites, a household sample survey of children under 5 years old was carried out during the late dry season in 8 rural villages in southern Guinea-Bissau, West Africa. Cryptosporidium oocysts were found in 10 of 270 stool samples (3·7%), using a safranin-methylene blue staining method. Of these 10 children (age range 5-16 months), all non-Muslims, 6 had diarrhoea, giving a prevalence of 12·5% in 48 children with diarrhoea, compared with 1·8% in children without diarrhoea (P<0·001). The ethnic group with the highest prevalence (9·2%) also kept most domestic animals, and was the only group to keep cattle. Giardia lamblia was found in 16 children, and the overall prevalences of other enteric parasites were: hookworm, 21·7%; Strongyloides stercoralis, 7·4%; Ascaris lumbricoides, 6·9%; Trichuris trichiura, 4·4%; Entamoeba histolytica, 1·5%; and Taenia sp., 0·5%. The prevalence of cryptosporidiosis was highest in the age group 7-12 months, while for the other parasites it was highest in the oldest children. The prevalence of hookwork was highest (c. 50%) in the southernmost villages. No significant relationship was found between hookworm infection and anaemia.
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