The influence of pregnancy on intestinal parasite infection in Thai women

The relationship between pregnancy and both the susceptibility and pathogenicity of parasite infections is disputed. This study compares the prevalence and intensity (as measured by density of eggs in stool samples) of intestinal helminth infections in pregnant and control groups of women from Khon Kaen Province in the northeast of Thailand. Stool samples were taken at the end of the first, second and third trimesters of pregnancy as well as 2 months after parturition and compared for the two groups. There were no significant changes in the prevalence of any of the common helminth species during the course of pregnancy or between the pregnant and control groups. Nor was there any evidence that the density of helminth eggs in the stool samples differed between sample times or between the pregnant and control groups. Our study therefore supports the hypothesis that pregnancy does not influence the course of human infection with helminths.