Parasitic infections in finger-sucking school age children.

Prevalence of parasites, acquired by the fecal-oral route, was recorded in 80% of primary school children with a finger-sucking habit, which was higher than that in nonfinger-sucking children. About 85% of the children did not wash their hands after defecation. The toilet facility available to the children also affected the infection pattern in finger-sucking children who used pit latrines recording higher prevalence of parasites.