There were 2,471 school children suffering from
enterobiasis in six primary schools of Tainan city. The infected children in five primary schools, Po-Ai, Yung-Hua, Fu-Hsiao, Pao-Jeng and Hsin-Nan, were treated with one single dosage of 100 mg
mebendazole. In Shih-Men primary school, the sixth, the students were given
placebos as a control group. Negative conversion rates of infected children were examined after three weeks of
chemotherapy and school children in the six primary schools were surveyed for
enterobiasis two months after
chemotherapy to obtain
infection rates. The method of examination was two consecutive-day adhesive
cellophane perianal swabs. With the purpose of evaluating the efficiency of treatment, positive reduction rates were used and calculated according to the
infection rates of school children gained before and after
chemotherapy. Those rates in Pao-Jeng, Fu-Hsiao, Yung-Hua, Po-Ai and Hsin-Nan were 62.1%, 47.8%, 41.8%, 37.1% and 3.3%, respectively, and in Shih-Men 3.9%. Judging the data obtained from each grade or each class of schools showed that the efficacy of
chemotherapy in reducing the rate of
infection was variable. Hence, one single dose of
mebendazole and education on personal hygiene were not sufficient to reduce the prevalence of
enterobiasis in primary schools. This was because the cycle of E. vermicularis was relatively short, cutting out the routes of transmission was very difficult, and the factors involved were very complex. Overall, though the positive reduction rate presented in Hsin-Nan primary school showed nearly no success in reducing the
infection, the other four schools showed valuable rates. Whether continue a treatment, of about three-months in duration, can inhibit the prevalence of
enterobiasis among children in primary schools or not will need further study.