Emerging opportunistic protozoa and intestinal pathogenic protozoal infestation profile in children of western Nepal.
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Date
2005-12-08
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Abstract
Intestinal parasitic infestation continues to be of public health importance in many tropical and subtropical countries for their high prevalence and effects on the morbidity in the population. This 5-year hospital-based retrospective analysis was aimed to find out the intestinal protozoal parasitic profile in 1790 pre-school and school-going children visiting the hospital with gastrointestinal illness. Giardia lamblia was the most prevalent pathogenic protozoan intestinal parasite (73.4%), followed by Entamoeba histolytica (24.4%). Interestingly, "newer" opportunistic pathogens like Cyclospora cayetanensis (1.0%) and Cryptosporidium sp. (1.0%) were detected from immunocompromised children below 2 years of age as a result of vertical transmission, which is alarming for a country like Nepal at the stage of 'concentrated epidemic' of HIV infection.
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Nepal Medical College Journal.
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Easow JM, Mukhopadhyay C, Wilson G, Guha S, Jalan BY, Shivananda PG. Emerging opportunistic protozoa and intestinal pathogenic protozoal infestation profile in children of western Nepal. Nepal Medical College Journal. 2005 Dec; 7(2): 134-7