Prevalence and determinants of Soil-Transmitted Helminths among urban vegetable farmers in Ghana
Gerald Quarcoo, Samuel Armoo, Augustina Angelina Sylverken, Matthew Glover Addo
PLOS ONE
Urban Farm DB summary
A study of 179 urban vegetable farmers in Accra (n=125) and Tamale (n=54), Ghana, with stool samples from 168 of them. Tamale recorded 0% soil-transmitted helminth infection, while Accra recorded Ascaris lumbricoides 5.1%, Ancylostoma duodenale 2.5% and Strongyloides stercoralis 0.8%. Not using personal protective equipment was strongly associated with infection (odds ratio 4.3, 95% CI 1.03–18.00, p=0.04); PPE use was 72% in Tamale versus 41% in Accra. The results indicate that occupational health risk in urban farming varies sharply by site and working practice. Limitations include farmers declining to give samples for superstitious reasons and the near-absence of prior studies on this population.