COMPARING THE RATE OF PARASITIC INFECTION AMONG PEOPLE OF RIGORES, HONDURAS TO GUATEMALA

Abstract

Honduras is the second poorest country in Central America, and thousands of its residents are living without access to medical care. Parasites are an everyday reality there, and rates are more than double that of Guatemala. The Honduras ENLACE Project at Indiana University School of Medicine De-partment of Family Medicine sends medical brigades to Rigores, Honduras to help combat this. The Department of Family Medicine wants to know why Honduras has such high rates of parasites compared to its neighbor of Gua-temala. This research analyzes the data from the March 2011 brigade and compares it to national health data from Guatemala. Problems common to Honduras were reflected in the data and were not surprising. These included diabetes, hypertension, malnutrition, and parasitic infections. Comparisons showed people living in Guatemala have lower rates of parasites, hyperten-sion, diabetes, and are better nourished. There could be many factors affect-ing the disparity in health between Guatemala and Honduras. The data col-lected and analyzed from Rigores compared to that of Guatemala may help future brigade teams help decrease the parasitic infection rate. Many thanks go to the Life Health Sciences Internship Program for funding and making this possible.