Prevalence of intestinal parasites in adult patients with enteropathic AIDS in north-eastern Tanzania

Abstract

A six month study was conducted in north-eastern Tanzania to determine the prevalence of pathogenic intestinal parasites among adult patients with enteropathic AIDS. A total of 352 patients were recruited of whom 158 (45%) had chronic diarrhoea. Of the 352 patients, 123 (35%) had intestinal parasites. Of the 123, 77 (62.6%) patients had chronic diarrhoea. The types of parasites detected were Cryptosporidium, Isospora belli, Strongyloides stercoralis, Schistosoma mansoni, Trichuris, trichiura, Ascaris lumbricoides, hookworm and Entamoeba histolytica. The prevalence of intestinal parasites was significantly higher in patients with chronic diarrhoea than in those without (P < 0.05). Cryptosporidium and Isospora belli were only detected in patients with chronic diarrhoea and were thus the most likely cause of the diarrhoea. This study has established that coccidian parasites are the most important gut opportunistic infections in Tanzanian patients with enteropathic AIDS. The fact that a high proportion of patients with chronic diarrhoea (51.3%) had no identifiable parasitic agents, suggests that other infectious agents or alternative mechanisms other than infections are responsible for the diarrhoea.

PIP: A 6-month study was conducted in northeastern Tanzania to assess the prevalence of pathogenic intestinal parasites among adult patients with enteropathic AIDS. Of the 352 patients recruited, 158 had chronic diarrhea and 123 had intestinal parasites. 77 of the 123 patients with intestinal parasites had chronic diarrhea. Cryptosporidium, Isospora belli, Strongyloides stercoralis, Schistosoma mansoni, Trichuris trichiura, Ascaris lumbricoides, hookworm, and Entamoeba histolytica were detected. The prevalence of intestinal parasites was significantly higher in patients with chronic diarrhea than in those without. Cryptosporidium and Isospora belli were only detected in patients with chronic diarrhea and were therefore the most likely cause of the diarrhea. Coccidian parasites have thus been identified as the most important gut opportunistic infections in Tanzanian patients with enteropathic AIDS. However, that 51.3% of patients with chronic diarrhea had no identifiable parasitic agents suggests that other infectious agents or alternative mechanisms are responsible for the condition.