Parasitic infections are present in endemic ways in several areas of Brazil. The investigation estimated the prevalence of enteroparasites in 200 children between 2 and 13 years belonging to two distinct social-economic classes, middle and low, in a period from April to June in 2001 in the city of Porto Velho, RO. And it also analyzed the contextual risk factors of greater epidemiologic importance. The samples of the feces were examined through direct and spontaneous sedimentation method. The population of middle social-economic level (A) made up of 100 individuals, presented a positivity rate of 18 %, being the most prevalent parasite Giardia lamblia (52,4 %), followed by Ascaris lumbricoids (19 %), Trichuris trichiura (14,3%), Enterobius vermicularis (4,8%), Hymenolepis nana (4,8%) and Endolimax nana (4,8%). In the group of low social-economic level (B) the positivity reached 56 % of the individuals also being Giardia lamblia (28,9%) the most prevalent, followed by Entamoeba coli (22,7%), A. lumbricoides (14,4%), T. Trichiura (8,3%), E. vermicularis (7,2%), H. nana (4,1%), E. nana (4,1%), E. histolytica (4,1%), Ancylostomídeos (3,1%) and leaven (3,1%). The occurrence of more than one parasite per individual was more prevalent in among the children of group B (46,4%), being that the parasitism was more prevalent among children with gastrointestinal symptoms in both groups A and B. The intestinal parasitosis affected boys and girls equally; Negroid and Caucasian and occurred equally in both two age group of children under and above five years, however, children under the age of five of group A presented preponderance of infection by protozoan of the specie G. lamblia. Low income and houses with a great number of people cohabiting and without water supply net constituted social-economic risk factors that support the high prevalence intestinal parasitosis. Anemia and nutritional state conditions were also evaluated and did not show significant relations with enteroparasitosis, in the different social-economic groups. Therefore, high prevalence in children, especially of low social-economic level, with intestinal parasitism, anemia and moderate acute malnutrition, reflect the precarious public healthy conditions in the city of Porto Velho, RO.
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