Title: Intestinal parasitic infections and associated factors in children of three rural schools in Colombia. A cross-sectional study

Comments Overall; the author of this manuscript presents a topic of public health importance that can be considered for possible publication. However, before this work can be considered for publication, there are major areas that need to be revised (indicated below).

Too broad conclusion for the study conducted only in children of three rural schools, use the specific study site. Why the authors didn't tell us the status (prevalence) of intestinal parasites infection and associated factors in the general population in Colombia while several published articles are out there? How much is common? give us a brief overview of the prevalence of Intestinal parasitic infections in Colombia. Do you need to narrate everything that is included in the table? shorten it. Is the treatment standard in Colombia differ from other countries? Why the study design? Take this to the methodology. You don't have to conclude this way without showing us the status of Intestinal parasitic infections in the general population, including the level of statistical significance. language and sentence edition in some part is needed. The title of the paper is clear and relevant. The abstract matched the main article except for the materials and methods

Abstract: The first sentence of the abstract needs rephrasing and help with its grammar. Better to rewrite the unclear sentence. Keywords have been chosen well. In the keywords section please use the Mesh browser to find ideal keywords

Introduction: There is a number of studies conducted in children of three rural schools in Colombia but you can say in the study area. Are there any control programs targeting Intestinal parasitic infections currently going on in the area? If so, which population is being targeted? How long have these programs been running? How effective are the programs? Etc. It may not be immediately obvious to the international audience what the scope and what distinguishes level. Could you give a brief description of this as this is what will help the readers better understand the setting of your study and the generalizability of the findings? Please specify the objectives of the study.

Methods: Your study population is changed by inclusion and exclusion criteria. Capitalize the name of the institution. Generally, the methodological approaches lack clarity where the authors may need to revise it. What's your diagnosis methods? You need to add more statements about your study design to clarify your hypothesis. There are issues with the statistics in the study. The authors could have demonstrated the information on the map which would have been much more comprehensive. Did children visiting the study area but not living there excluded from the study? Who were the primary responders in the family? The time points of sampling are unclear. Please provide information about the population size of the community and the methodologies adopted for sampling. The authors describe the sampling technique and also allude to the fact that the samples were collected. Statistical analysis should be better explained.

Results: I am a bit reluctant with the result section the way it was presented. How you handled ethical issues? What you categorized age group? How you put the overall prevalence? Please further stratify and state the number of co-infections under the poly parasitism cases. Was family size, presence of other children at home not accounted for in the risk factor analysis? In the risk factor analysis was mon and poly parasitism grouped together? Did the authors investigate the risk factors associated with poly-parasitism? Did the authors collect the history of use deworming in the study children? do the authors have data on the household prevalence of Intestinal parasitic infections?

Discussion: The discussion part is ok although in some places lack the logical flow of ideas and strong arguments! thus need careful revision in some parts in general. Your discussion should be based on your findings. Is there any variable about family size. You just compared the results from other similar studies but you didn't further discuss why the Intestinal parasitic infections in your study area and why those risk factors have different effects and what's your suggestion to control the problem? Discussion can be further substantiated and perhaps explore more why the prevalence of infections in this study is much lower than reported in the current literature. Please explain which kind of study has been done? Where? When? Results? Remember that the discussion section is to discuss the results! Please try to explain why your results did/ did not reach significance. Please cite a recent article about Intestinal parasitic infections. The references list needs to be revised since some old papers have been cited.

Conclusion: Keep in mind that many readers only read the conclusion, so it is most important that your take-home message is included.

There is a number of studies conducted in children of three rural schools in Colombia but you can say in the study area. Are there any control programs targeting Intestinal parasitic infections currently going on in the area? If so, which population is being targeted? How long have these programs been running? How effective are the programs? Etc. It may not be immediately obvious to the international audience what the scope and what distinguishes level. Could you give a brief description of this as this is what will help the readers better understand the setting of your study and the generalizability of the findings? Please specify the objectives of the study.

Your study population is changed by inclusion and exclusion criteria. Capitalize the name of the institution. Generally, the methodological approaches lack clarity where the authors may need to revise it. What's your diagnosis methods? You need to add more statements about your study design to clarify your hypothesis. There are issues with the statistics in the study. The authors could have demonstrated the information on the map which would have been much more comprehensive. Did children visiting the study area but not living there excluded from the study? Who were the primary responders in the family? The time points of sampling are unclear. Please provide information about the population size of the community and the methodologies adopted for sampling. The authors describe the sampling technique and also allude to the fact that the samples were collected. Statistical analysis should be better explained.

I am a bit reluctant with the result section the way it was presented. How you handled ethical issues? What you categorized age group? How you put the overall prevalence? Please further stratify and state the number of co-infections under the poly parasitism cases. Was family size, presence of other children at home not accounted for in the risk factor analysis? In the risk factor analysis was mon and poly parasitism grouped together? Did the authors investigate the risk factors associated with poly-parasitism? Did the authors collect the history of use deworming in the study children? do the authors have data on the household prevalence of Intestinal parasitic infections?

The discussion part is ok although in some places lack the logical flow of ideas and strong arguments! thus need careful revision in some parts in general. Your discussion should be based on your findings. Is there any variable about a family size? You just compared the results from other similar studies but you didn't further discuss why the Intestinal parasitic infections in your study area and why those risk factors have different effects and what's your suggestion to control the problem? Discussion can be further substantiated and perhaps explore more why the prevalence of infections in this study is much lower than reported in the current literature. Please explain which kind of study has been done? Where? When? Results? Remember that the discussion section is to discuss the results! Please try to explain why your results did/ did not reach significance. Please cite a recent article about Intestinal parasitic infections. The references list needs to be revised since some old papers have been cited. Keep in mind that many readers only read the conclusion, so it is most important that your take-home message is included.