Enteroparasites in Lettuce (Lactuca Sativa L.) Marketed at a Free Market in a Municipality of Alagoas

Abstract

: Infections with enteroparasites are among the most frequent infectious diseases in the world, with an estimated number of infected individuals of approximately 3.5 billion people. (CDC 2011, WHO 2011). This study aimed to analyze the presence of parasites in curly lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) commercialized in the street market in the municipality of Craíbas and to make a comparison between the forms of hygiene and the methods used in the analysis of parasitic structures. This is an observational, quantitative and cross-sectional study. As the municipality has a small fair, 5 stalls out of 10 that sell lettuce were selected in a systematic way, adopting the criteria of yes and no when choosing the collection points; the samples were processed by washing with water, water + detergent + brush, and using the Spontaneous Sedimentation technique (Lutz method) and in the Faust and Cols method, were analyzed, the slide readings were performed under a common optical microscope , under 10X objective and confirmation of parasitic structures in 40X objective. It was observed that the results presented by the modified HPJ method for vegetables and the cleaning of the leaves only with running water as with brush and water with detergent were superior to those obtained in the method of Faust and Cols and in both forms of cleaning, demonstrating less effectiveness in the research of parasitic structures, corroborating the study by Quadros et. al (2008) who presented positive results in the Lutz technique (46.7%) when compared to the techniques of Sheather (31.1%) and Faust (10.6%). Then, based on the data obtained in the present study, the lettuce samples (Lactuca sativa L.), sold at the free market in the municipality of Craíbas-AL, present human and / or animal parasitic forms, thus being an important vehicle for the dissemination of intestinal parasites.