A group of youngsters (4-18 years old) in northeast Brazil was studied
to establish the prevalence of anaemia and intestinal parasitism, as well
as to analyze the correlation between them. Two criteria were used to
determine the state of anaemia, the level of haemoglobin and the mean of
corpuscular volume. The first was considered a single criterion and the
second an associated criteria, used in an attempt to correlate anaemia with
iron deficiency. The prevalence of intestinal parasitism was 93%, while the
prevalence of anaemia was 43.1% and 16.1% according to the criteria
employed (single or associated respectively). Anaemia was significantly
associated with both sex and age. No significant statistical difference was
observed when the association was made between each parasite and anaemia
even with those more related to anaemia.