Problems in Tropical Public Health among Workers at a Jute Mill Near Calcutta

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Abstract
Summary A survey of intestinal parasites was conducted among the members of the supervisory staff, their families, and their foodhandler servants at the mill of the Ludlow Jute Co., Chengail, Howrah District, West Bengal. In the supervisory group of 62 persons, 40 per cent were found to have intestinal parasites, 39 per cent with protozoa and 2 per cent with helminths. Among the servants (47 persons), 87 per cent were infected with some intestinal parasite, 83 per cent with protozoa, and 79 per cent with helminths. The mean number of infections per person among the servants was 1.9, four times the mean for the supervisory group. Entamoeba histolytica was equally prevalent in both the supervisors and their servants (7 and 6 per cent respectively), and this rate compares well with the one derived earlier (8.3 per cent) from a survey of 750 of the mill workers. As in the latter survey, ascariasis and trichuriasis were found to be far commoner among Muslims than Hindus. In general, the servants as a group fall between the supervisory personnel and the mill workers at large in terms of the prevalence of intestinal parasites among them. It is noted that under the conditions of living at the Chengail mill the risk to the supervisory group of acquiring intestinal parasite infections is no greater than it is generally assumed to be in their native Western countries.

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