Detection of opportunistic and non-opportunistic intestinal parasites and liver flukes in HIV-positive and HIV-negative subjects
Pinlaor, S.; Mootsikapun, P.; Pinlaor, P.; Pipitgool, V.; Tuangnadee, R.
Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health 36(4): 841-845
2005
ISSN/ISBN: 0125-1562 PMID: 16295534 Document Number: 593023
We assessed the frequency and distribution of infection with opportunistic and non-opportunistic intestinal parasites and the liver fluke, Opisthorchis viverrini, in HIV-seropositive and HIV-seronegative subjects. Age- and sex-matched HIV-seropositive (n=78) and HIV-seronegative patients (n=78) from two hospitals in Khon Kaen Province, Thailand, participated in this study from November 1998 to August 2000. These subjects were divided according to the presence of diarrhoea and CD4 counts. A single stool sample was obtained and analysed by using specific techniques. Opisthorchis viverrini, was the most common parasite (19.2%) in each group. The prevalence rates of Cryptosporidium spp. (11.5%) and Strongyloides stercoralis (17.9%) in the HIV-seropositive group were significantly (p<0.05) higher than those in the HIV-seronegative group (1.0% for Cryptosporidium spp. and 7.7% for S. stercoralis infections). The prevalences of these two parasites were 28% for Cryptosporidium spp. and 20% for S. stercoralis in HIV-seropositives with diarrhoea and CD4 counts lower than 100 ceils/mm3, and were higher compared with patients without diarrhoea or with high CD4 counts. These results suggest that infection with these parasites increases during HIV infection. The epidemiological distribution of Cryptosporidium and S. stercoralis may have implications for AIDS-related diseases.