Open AccessParasites in Human Stool: To Ignore or Not To Ignore?
Author(s) -
Coen Butters,
Daniel K Yeoh,
Nigel Curtis
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the pediatric infectious disease journal/the pediatric infectious disease journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.028
H-Index - 140
eISSN - 1532-0987
pISSN - 0891-3668
DOI - 10.1097/inf.0000000000002323
Subject(s) - microbiome , protozoa , helminthiasis , human microbiome , human disease , medicine , helminths , parasite hosting , identification (biology) , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , disease , immunology , ecology , pathology , bioinformatics , world wide web , computer science
Human stool contains a myriad of microorganisms, of which the vast majority are nonpathogenic and represent an important component of the healthy microbiome. The increasing use of molecular techniques has allowed the rapid identification of bacteria, viruses and parasites in human stool. This review focuses on the 3 main classes of parasite responsible for human disease, helminths, protozoa and ectoparasites, and highlights the importance of differentiating between pathogenic and nonpathogenic parasites.