Clinical conditions associated withintestinal strongyloidiasis in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

• Published in: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical
• Main Authors: Anna Caryna Cabral, Alena Mayo Iñiguez, Taiza Moreno, Marcio Neves Bóia, Filipe Anibal Carvalho-Costa
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical (SBMT) 2015
• Subjects: Strongyloides stercoralis; Co-infection; Risk factors; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/0037-8682-0019-2015; https://doaj.org/article/067a24cc94044cd9a387416cdf5fe225

INTRODUCTION: Strongyloides stercoralis is a soil-transmitted helminth that produces an infection that can persist for decades. The relationships between certain clinical conditions and strongyloidiasis remains controversial. This study aims to identify the clinical conditions associated with intestinal strongyloidiasis at a reference center for infectious diseases in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. METHODS: The clinical conditions that were assessed included HIV/AIDS, HTLV infection, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obstructive respiratory diseases, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, cancer, chronic renal disease, nutritional/metabolic disorders, psychiatric conditions, rheumatic diseases and dermatologic diseases. We compared 167 S. stercoralis-positive and 133 S. stercoralis-negative patients. RESULTS: After controlling for sex (male/female OR = 2.29; 95% (CI): (1.42 - 3.70), rheumatic diseases remained significantly associated with intestinal strongyloidiasis (OR: 4.96; 95% CI: 1.34-18.37) in a multiple logistic regression model. With respect to leukocyte counts, patients with strongyloidiasis presented with significantly higher relative eosinophil (10.32% ± 7.2 vs. 4.23% ± 2.92) and monocyte (8.49% ± 7.25 vs. 5.39% ± 4.31) counts and lower segmented neutrophil (52.85% ± 15.31 vs. 61.32% ± 11.4) and lymphocyte counts (28.11% ± 9.72 vs. 30.90% ± 9.51) than S. stercoralis-negative patients. CONCLUSIONS: Strongyloidiasis should be routinely investigated in hospitalized patients with complex conditions facilitate the treatment of patients who will undergo immunosuppressive therapy. Diagnoses should be determined through the use of appropriate parasitological methods, such as the Baermann-Moraes technique.