Blastocystis hominis and other intestinal parasites in a community of Pitanga City, Paraná State, Brazil Blatocystis hominis e outros parasitas intestinais em comunidade da cidade de Pitanga, Paraná, Brasil

• Published in: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo
• Main Authors: Solange Aparecida Nascimento, Maria da Luz Ribeiro Moitinho
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade de São Paulo (USP) 2005
• Subjects: Blastocystis hominis; Intestinal parasites; Prevalence; Diagnosis; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/S0036-46652005000400007; https://doaj.org/article/b37fada80581456e996554c3b35f5574

The objective was to estimate the prevalence of Blastocystis hominis, to evaluate the effectiveness of different techniques for its diagnosis as well as to estimate the prevalence of other intestinal parasites in the community of Campo Verde, a district of Pitanga. The work was carried out from August to October 2004. Samples of feces from children and adults were collected and submitted to the techniques of direct wet mount, flotation in zinc sulphate solution, tube sedimentation, sedimentation in formalin-ether and staining by Kinyoun and iron hematoxylin methods. From 181 studied individuals, 128 (70.7%) showed protozoa and/or helminths in stool samples. The most prevalent species were Endolimax nana (33.7%); B. hominis (26.5%); Giardia lamblia (18.2%); Entamoeba coli (17.1%); Ascaris lumbricoides (16.6%); Iodamoeba bütschlii (9.4%); and ancylostomatidae (7.7%). B. hominis was only identified by the techniques of direct wet mount, sedimentation in formalin-ether and staining by iron hematoxylin, though the latter was less sensitive than the other methods. The high frequency of B. hominis demonstrated by this study indicates the need to include laboratory techniques that enable identification of the parasite on a routine basis. O presente trabalho foi realizado no período de agosto a outubro de 2004 com o objetivo de se estimar a prevalência de Blastocystis hominis, avaliar a eficácia de diferentes técnicas para o seu diagnóstico assim como estimar a prevalência de outros parasitas intestinais na comunidade de Campo Verde, município de Pitanga. Amostras de fezes de crianças e adultos foram coletadas e submetidas às técnicas de exame direto, de flutuação em solução de sulfato de zinco, de sedimentação em tubo, de sedimentação em formol-éter e de coloração pelos métodos de Kinyoun e de hematoxilina férrica. Protozoários e/ou helmintos intestinais foram detectados em 128 (70,7%) das 181 amostras de fezes analisadas. As espécies mais prevalentes foram Endolimax nana (33,7%); B. hominis (26,5%); Giardia lamblia ...