OCCURRENCE OF Blastocystis spp. IN UBERABA, MINAS GERAIS, BRAZIL

• Published in: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo
• Main Authors: Marlene CABRINE-SANTOS, Eduardo do Nascimento CINTRA, Rafaela Andrade do CARMO, Gabriel Antônio Nogueira NASCENTES, André Luiz PEDROSA, Dalmo CORREIA, Márcia Benedita de OLIVEIRA-SILVA
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade de São Paulo (USP) 2015
• Subjects: Blastocystis spp; Intestinal parasites; Stools; Uberaba (MG); Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/S0036-46652015000300005; https://doaj.org/article/55dbfb30bdb94f6981b9cad44fddf5cf

Intestinal parasites are a problem for public health all over the world. The infection with Blastocystis, a protozoan of controversial pathogenicity, is one of the most common among them all. In this study, the occurrence of intestinal parasites, with emphasis on Blastocystis, in patients at the Universidade Federal do Triângulo Mineiro was investigated in Uberaba (MG) through microscopy of direct smears and fecal concentrates using Ritchie’s method. Feces of 1,323 patients were examined from April 2011 to May 2012. In 28.7% of them at least one intestinal parasite was identified, and the most frequent organisms were Blastocystis spp. (17.8%) and Giardia intestinalis (7.4%). The occurrence of parasitism was higher in children aged 6 -10 years old, and the infection with Blastocystis spp. was higher above the age of six (p < 0.001). The exclusive presence of G. intestinalis and of Blastocystis spp. was observed in 5.4% and 12.2% of the patients, respectively. Regarding patients with diarrheic feces, 8% revealed unique parasitism of Blastocystis spp. Other intestinal parasites observed in children were Ascaris lumbricoides (0.3%) and Entamoeba histolytica/dispar/moshkovskii (1.4%). The Ritchie’s method was more sensitive (92.8%) when compared to direct microscopy (89.8%), with high agreement between them (97.7%, kappa = 0.92). In conclusion, the occurrence of Blastocystis spp. in Uberaba is high and the presence of diarrheic feces with exclusive presence of the parasite of Blastocystis spp. was observed.