Wealth and Its Associations with Enteric Parasitic Infections in a Low-Income Community in Peru Use of Principal Component Analysis

The association of wealth and infections with Giardia,Cryptosporidium, Cyclospora, and microsporidia were examined in a longitudinal cohort conducted in Peru from 2001 to 2006 Data from 492 participants were daily clinical manifestations weekly copro parasitological diagnosis, and housing characteristics and assets owned (48 variables), and these data were used to construct a global wealth index using principal component analysis Data were analyzed using continuous and categorical (wealth tertiles) models Participant's mean age was 3 43 years (range = 0-12 years), with average follow-up of 993 days Univariate and multivariate analyses identified significant associations between wealth and infections with Giardia and microsporidia Participants with greater wealth Indexes were associated with protection against Giardia (P < 0 001) and persistent Giardia infections (> 14 days) For microsporidia, greater wealth was protective (P = 0 066 continuous and P = 0 042 by tertiles) Contrarily, infections with Cryptosporidium and Cyclospora were independent of wealth Thus, subtle differences in wealth may affect the frequency of specific parasitic infections within low-income communities