MEDICAL BIOLOGY, ANATOMY, HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY - Y.I. Fedoniuk 2010

BIOLOGY

SECTION 2. BIOGEOCENOTIC LEVEL OF LIFE ORGANIZATION AND THE PLACE OF HUMAN IN IT

2.4. MEDICAL HELMINTHOLOGY

Current problems of medical helminthology in Ukraine

Parasitic diseases are a widespread pathology in Ukraine, with approximately 20% of the population becoming infected annually. Among the most common human helminthiases are geohelminthiases (ascariasis, trichuriasis) and enterobiasis. Trichinosis and echinococcosis are among the most dangerous biohelminthiases. Between 1960 and 1980, 770 cases of trichinosis were recorded in Ukraine, with 37% of local infections occurring in Vinnytsia and Khmelnytskyi regions, where domestic pigs served as the primary source of infection. Although anti-helminthic control measures implemented in Ukraine helped reduce the incidence of major helminthic infections, the socio-economic instability of the 1990s led to a significant deterioration of the epidemiological situation regarding parasitic diseases. Recently, foci of trichinosis have become more active and are now reported in the southern and central regions where they were previously absent. Alongside domestic pigs, wild boars serve as a source of infection (in Zakarpattia and Kherson regions). In southern Ukraine, there has been an increase in the incidence of echinococcosis, which accounts for 40% of all fatalities caused by parasitic infections. Natural foci of opisthorchiasis also exist in Ukraine; within the Dnipro River basin and its tributaries, infection rates reach 4.3–61.1% among the population, 0.6–2% among Mollusks, up to 20% among fish, and up to 70% among cats. Protecting Water bodies and household plots from fecal contamination (by helminth eggs and protozoan cysts) is particularly urgent for the northwestern regions of Ukraine, where the incidence of geohelminthiases is 2 to 4 times higher than the national average. Furthermore, interstate and domestic migration processes, which have intensified recently, pose a growing threat regarding the spread of human parasitic diseases.