Open AccessSpectrum of opportunistic and other parasites among HIV/AIDS patients attending a tertiary care hospital
Author(s) -
Shraddha Jain,
Amit Kumar Singh,
Ravinder Pal Singh,
Jyoti Bajaj,
Ajit Damle
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
asian pacific journal of tropical disease
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.208
H-Index - 33
ISSN - 2222-1808
DOI - 10.1016/s2222-1808(14)60610-1
Subject(s) - tertiary care , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , medicine , tertiary level , broad spectrum , family medicine , virology , pediatrics , psychology , chemistry , mathematics education , combinatorial chemistry
Objective: To determine the spectrum of opportunistic as well as non-opportunistic parasitic\udinfections in HIV/AIDS patients.\udMethods: A total of 250 HIV sero-positive individuals are included in study. Among them, 76\udclinical cases of diarrhea and 8 clinically suspected cases of toxoplasmosis were identified.\udFresh stool samples were collected in a suitable container on three consecutive days and\udprocessed immediately for identification of oocysts of Cryptosporidium parvum, Isospora belli and\udCyclospora. Blood sample was collected from suspected cases of toxoplasmosis and tested for\udantitoxoplasma immunoglobulin M antibodies using immunoComb Toxo IgM test. Estimation of\udCD4 counts was also done by flow cytometry from these patients.\udResults: The opportunistic parasites identified in total HIV sero-positive patients were\udCryptosporidium spp. (20.8%) and Isospora belli (0.8%). While the non-opportunistic parasite\udidentified were Entamoeba histolytica (4%), Giardia intestinalis (1.6%) and Hymenolepis nana (0.8%).\udToxoplasmosis was identified in 2.4% HIV sero-positive patients.\udConclusions: Increasing prevalence of parasitic infections in HIV/AIDS patients suggests that\udsimple steps such as drinking safe water, maintaining high level o=f environmental and personal\udhygiene and avoiding contact with contaminated soil are necessary to prevent the occurrence of\udthese diseases in AIDS patient