Journal of Clinical and Experimental Investigations

Abstract

Objectives: Intestinal parasitosis is a major public health problem particularly in the developing countries and affects approximately 4 billion people globally. The presented study aimed to determine the prevalence of multiple (mixt) intestinal parasites and potential source of infection in our region.
Materials and methods: A total of 1,620 stool specimen that sent to Kızıltepe State Hospital Microbiology Laboratory throughout a 4 months period to investigate for parasitic agents were included. Following macroscopic examination, stool specimens were precipitated and examined for intestinal parasites by copro-parasitological methods including native-lugol method. All of stool specimens were investigated for Entamoeba histolytica/dispar screening by Micro-ELISA method using commercial kits regarding with the existence of adhesin antigens.
Results: In this study, a total of 1,620 human stool samples were examined and 447 (27.6%) were found to be favorable for intestinal parasites. Among infected stool samples, 63 (14.1%) were infected with two parasites and 18 (4.0%) with three parasites. The first three most common parasites were Giardia intestinalis (43.3%), Taenia spp. (36.4%) and Trichomonas hominis (5.4%). There was no significant difference between males and females in multiple infected (G. intestinalis & Taenia spp.) stool samples (p>0.05).
Conclusion: Our findings suggested that intestinal parasitic infections remain endemic in our region.