Provinces, Thailand, Proven by Adult Worm Recovery

Foodborne trematodiasis is a public health problem. A glob-al estimate of 56.2 million people were infected with trema-todes, resulting in DALY (disability-adjusted life year) of 0.5-0.9 million and 7,152 deaths per year [1]. One of these trema-todes, Opisthorchis viverrini, is associated with cholangiocarci-noma, and about 10 million people in Thailand and Lao PDR are infected [1]. To control this liver fluke disease, the Ministry of Public Health, Thailand, has set a target of not exceeding 5 % prevalence. A cross-sectional survey in 2009 demonstrated a national prevalence of 8.7 % (based on the finding of eggs in stool samples), which was a decrease figure from 14 % in 1971. The prevalence was the highest in northeastern (16.6%) and northern Thailand (10%) [2]. However, the true prevalence of opisthorchiasis may be overestimated in areas where O. viverri-ni coexists with minute intestinal flukes (MIFs). The eggs of Opisthorchis and of MIFs are easily confused under a micro-scope unless specific techniques are used [3-5]. A recent un-published report from local health authorities stated that the prevalence of O. viverrini eggs in the stools of residents in Nan and Lampang Provinces, northern Thailand, was over 70%. This alarming finding prompted our study, which reports the adult MIFs recovered after anthelminthic treatment in subjects who had eggs in their stool that had been assumed to be those of O. viverrini