AbstractBackground
Intestinal parasitic infections cause severe diarrhoea specially in childrens and immunocompromised people amongst which Cryptosporidium and Cyclospora are emerging protozoan parasites that causes diarrhea worldwide, particularly in young children.
Aims-To know the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection amongst the symptomatic children at a tertiary care centre.
Methods-This study is conducted at tertiary care hospital from January 2015 to December 2015 for one year in which 100 children were included who came with complains of pain in abdomen and diarrhea. Single stool sample was collected aseptically in wide mouth container following all aseptic precautions. Stool microscopy was performed which included saline mount, iodine mount and modified acid fast stain for the detection of Cryptosporidium parvum, Isospora and Cyclospora spp in stool.
Results-Out of all 100 childrens in the study, 64 were suffering from infection out of which of 7 (10.94%) were positive for Cryptosporidium alone, 2 (3.13%) were positive for Cyclospora species alone while 34 (53.13%) were positive for both Cryptosporidium and Cyclospora together resulting into diarrhoea. In 16 (25%) children Entomoeba hystolytica was detected while in 5 (7.80%) children Giardia was found. Among all infected children male cases were more as compared to female cases. Most of the cases were in the 6-10 yrs of the age group followed by 1-5 yrs and 11-15 yrs. The numbers of cases were more in warm season as compared to cooler season.
Conclusions-
C. parvum and
Cyc. cayetanensis are major causes of diarrhea, followed by
E.histolytica and
Giardia species. So, these pathogens should be taken into account in the differential diagnosis of diarrhea in children particularly from rural areas. And also there is a need of periodic
deworming particularly in
childrens along with maintenance of hygienic conditions to prevent this parasitic infection as these infections are the leading cause of death among children.
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