the eosinophil granulocytes ( eg ) normally represent a small percentage of the leukocytes in blood , although they are much more numerous in the tissues . they can destroy parasites , but they also have immune - regulating functions and they can be involved , for instance , in reshaping / remodeling the conjunctive tissue .   there has been registered an important progress lately regarding the research and knowledge on these fascinating but still enigmatic cells . the sanguine eosinophilia ( se ) represents a paraclinical sign which is characteristic to parasitary diseases . it is specifically associated with parasite tissue invasion and migration and the level of eosinophilia is usually proportional to the invaded tissue area . conversely , the parasites which do not invade tissues , the protozoans , for instance , do not generally cause increased eosinophilia . aim : the study of the frequency , level , and the absolute and relative values of the se , depending on the parasitary disease type . the study group comprised a number of 2198 children , aged 0 - 16 years , among whom 2167 were admitted with various parasitary diseases in craiova clinics ( pediatrics ii , pediatrics surgery , contagious diseases ) over a period of 12 years and a number of 31 children with acquired toxoplasmosis who were admitted in the pediatric clinic of fundeni clinical institute in bucharest over a one - year - period . among the 2198 children in the study , 1226 had diseases caused by protozoans : 1195 intestinal giardiasis and 31 acquired toxoplasmosis ; 754 diseases caused by nematodes : 169 ascaridiasis , 470 oxyurasis , 23 trichocephalosis and 92 trichinellosis ; 50 caused by cestodes : 23 hydatidosis and 27 himenolepidosis ; 168 associated parasitoses . medical history was studied for all admitted children , from which we extracted the paraclinical data : hemogram , coproparasitary examinations , imagistic exams , immunologic investigations ( t. elisa ) . the relative values ( % ) of the e.g. were transformed into absolute values ( /mm ) , by reporting them to the total number of leukocytes . depending on the eg values , we determined 3 levels of se : light se  400  1000 eg / mm mean se  1000  3000 eg / mm sanguine hyper - eosinophilia ( s.h.e . ) > 3000 eg / mm for processing the data , we used statistic - mathematical methods : arithmetic mean ( am ) and standard deviation (  sd ) . among the 2198 children with parasitary diseases who formed our study group , 1486 ( 67.6% ) had a normal number of e.g./mm while 712 ( 32.4% ) had s.e./ s.h.e .. s.h.e . was present in 24 children out of the total of 2198 children with parasitary diseases , representing 1.1% while s.e . levels in the 712 children with s.e . : light s.e . in 586 children ( 82.3% ) , mean s.e . in 102 ( 14.3% ) and sanguine hyper - eosinophilia s.h.e . in 24 ( 3.4% ) children ( table 1 ) . the frequency of s.e . in the parasitary diseases was as follows : among the 1195 children with intestinal giardiasis , 328 ( 27.5% ) presented s.e . in the children with acquired toxoplasmosis , s.e . was present in 10 children ( 32.2% ) out of 31 children . among the 169 children with ascaridiasis , 65 ( 38.5% ) presented s.e . ; among the 23 children with trichocephalosis , 16 of them ( 69.6% ) presented s.e . ; in the children with trichinellosis , 73 ( 79.3% ) out of 92 presented s.e . ; among the 27 children with himenolepidosis , 9 of them ( 33.3% ) presented s.e .. in the children with associated parasitoses , s.e . was present in 68 ( 40.5% ) out of 168 children ( figure 1 ) . s.e . frequency in the children with parasitary disease the absolute and relative mean values of the s.e . in the children with parasitary diseases were : in intestinal giardiasis 658.48444.12 e.g./mm , 7.894.42 e.g.% respectively ; in toxoplasmosis 703.07475.77 e.g./mm , 7.85.48 e.g.% respectively ; in ascaridiasis 690.6450.4 e.g./mm , 8.064.53 e.g.% respectively ; in oxyurasis 710.06506.17 e.g./mm , 7.985.25 e.g.% respectively ; in trichocephalosis 822.18484.87 e.g./mm , 11.187.23 e.g.% respectively ; in trichinellosis 3058.973532.67 e.g./mm , 21.7914.5 e.g.% respectively ; in hydatidosis 833.09582.8 e.g./mm , 10.75.48 e.g.% respectively ; in himenolepidosis 600.35116.28 e.g./mm , 6.882.08 e.g.% respectively ; in associated parasitoses 694.67370.59 e.g./mm , 8.634.28 e.g.% respectively ( fig.2 ) absolute and relative mean values of s.e . in parasitary diseases the absolute and relative maximum values of the s.e . were as follows : in giardiasis 5548 e.g./mm , 38 e.g.% respectively ; in toxoplasmosis 2369 e.g./mm , 23 e.g.% respectively ; in ascaridiasis 5360 e.g./mm , 28 e.g.% respectively ; in oxyurasis 3120 e.g./mm , 41 e.g.% respectively ; in trichocephalosis 2450 e.g./mm , 35 e.g.% respectively ; in trichinellosis 15741 e.g .. /mm , 58 e.g.% respectively ; in hydatidosis 2300 e.g./mm , 23 e.g.% respectively ; in himenolepidosis 900 e.g./mm , 12 e.g.% respectively ; in associated parasitoses 1960 e.g./mm , 26 e.g.% respectively ( fig.3 ) absolute and relative maximum values of s.e . in parasitary diseases one can notice that most of the children with parasitary diseases ( 82.3% ) presented light s.e s.e . registered the highest frequency ( 79.3% ) in the children with trichinellosis , a parasitosis which is known to be accompanied by s.e . , according to  the laws of parasitary eosinophilia  of bonin , moretti and bertrand . frequency was also increased in the children with trichocephalosis ( 69.6% ) , a parasitosis which , according to the specialty literature , is accompanied by s.e . , constantly met in children . s.e . registered the lowest frequency in intestinal giardiasis ( 27.5% ) and oxyurasis ( 28.1% ) , parasitoses which , according to  the laws of parasitary eosinophilia  , are not accompanied by s.e . . the newest data describes the presence of s.e . in these parasitoses , too , within variable percentages . the highest mean value of the absolute and relative s.e . was encountered in trichinellosis ( 3058.97 e.g./mm3 , 21.79 e.g.% ) , one of the parasitary diseases accompanied by s.e . the mean values of s.e . were the lowest in the children with himenolepidosis ( 600.35 e.g./mm , 6.88 e.g.% ) but also in the children with intestinal giardiasis ( 658.48 e.g./mm , 7.89 e.g.% ) . in himenolepidosis , s.e . has moderate values 5% - 10%   up to 15%   and it is encountered in approximately one third of the patients . the presence of s.e . in giardiasis triggered numerous discussions in the last few years . there are authors   who question the presence of eosinophilic properties for the protozoa , particularly for the giardiasis . other authors   present numerous cases of giardiasis accompanied by eosinophilia . the highest absolute and relative value was registered in a child with trichinellosis ( 15741 e.g./mm , 58 e.g.% ) . high absolute and relative values were also registered in giardiasis ( 5548 e.g./mm , 38 e.g.% , respectively ) and in oxyurasis ( 3120 e.g./mm , 41 e.g.% , respectively ) . is mentioned in the specialty literature and it is partly explained through / by the intensity of the parasitary infestation , on account of the parasite s ability to penetrate the tissues , through the specific way of the human body to respond to the parasitary aggression . another explanation could be the fact that the study group consisted in a great number of children with giardiasis and oxyurasis and by the fact that these children were not further investigated in order to decide upon another possible cause for s.e . and s.h.e . ; we should also take into consideration a laboratory error , given the fact that the children never came again for a subsequent control to repeat the hemogram . the lowest frequency was registered in oxyurasis ( 28.1% ) and in giardiasis ( 27.5% ) . the highest mean value was registered in trichinellosis ( 3058.97 e.g / mm , 21.79 e.g.% ) . the lowest mean values were registered in intestinal giardiasis ( 658.48 e.g./mm , 7.89 e.g.% ) and in himenolepidosis ( 600.35 e.g./mm , 6.88 e.g.% ) .