Abstract
HIV/AIDS ranks amongst the most dreaded diseases afflicting mankind, causing dysfunction of the immune system, resulting in overwhelming and fatal opportunistic infections. Diarrhoea is the most common presenting symptom in HIV positive patients and etiological agents are highly variable depending on various risk factors: contaminated drinking water, using public toilets etc. The present study seeks to determine the prevalence of parasitic infections in HIV positive patients and the associated risk factors. Isospora belli was the most common parasite (11%) followed by Cryptosporidium species (2%) and Cyclospora species (1%). Parasitic infections were significantly high in public toilet users (P value 0.01). Contact with pets and animals, chronic diarrhoea were also important factors in acquiring parasitic infections (P value 0.05). Access to clean, hygienic toilets, precautions while handling pets would reduce the risk of parasitic infections in HIV positive patients.
Highlights
Diarrhoea is one of the most common presenting complaints in HIV infected patients
Cryptosporidium species and Cyclospora cayetanensis were found in 2% and 1% patients respectively which is low compared to the reported prevalence rates of Cryptosporidium -from 6% to 37%
No parasites were isolated in HIV positive patients without diarrhoea which correlates with the observations made by Zali et al[13], Mohandas et al[8], Mukhopadhya et al[11] that intestinal parasites were more common in HIV positive patients with diarrhoea than in those without
Summary
Diarrhoea is one of the most common presenting complaints in HIV infected patients. Coccidian parasites like Isospora, Cryptosporidium, and Cyclospora have emerged as major pathogens causing significant morbidity and mortality in HIV positive patients. Infection with the coccidian parasites is considered a WHO stage 4 AIDS defining illness warranting antiretroviral therapy irrespective of CD 4 counts even in resource limited countries like India. Most of these patients are from poor socioeconomic backgrounds and do not have access to clean drinking water, toilets. A few studies were carried out both in India[1,2,3] and abroad[4,5,6] to determine the prevalence of parasitic infections in HIV patients and to study their association with various risk factors. The present study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of enteric parasitic infections in HIV/AIDS patients attending the ART centre in Gandhi Hospital and evaluate the role of various risk factors in acquiring parasitic infections
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