Abstract
BackgroundBlastocystis is ubiquitous presence in animals and humans worldwide and has a high level genetic diversity. The aim of this study was to conduct a summary of Blastocystis prevalence, subtypes (STs) in humans and animals in China and depict their distribution.MethodsWe searched for the articles related to epidemiology of Blastocystis in humans and animals throughout China which published from January 1, 1990, to July 31, 2019 in the following databases: PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Wanfang database. The keywords were Blastocystis and one of the following ones: STs, subtypes, distribution, epidemiology, prevalence, infection, molecular, geographic, intestinal parasites, genetic diversity and characterization.ResultsIn recent years, various molecular epidemiological studies have been carried out in some provinces/regions of China to identify subtypes of Blastocystis. Infants and young children, school students, hospitalized diarrhea patients, HIV/AIDS patients, tuberculosis patients, and cancer patients as respondents had been included. ST1–ST7 and ST12 were the main subtypes in Chinese population. Moreover, surveys of Blastocystis infection in animal were also conducted in some provinces of China. A variety of animals were investigated including pigs, cattle, sheep, yak, giant panda, and crested ibis (Nipponia nippon) with the main subtypes of ST1–ST8, ST10, ST12–ST14.ConclusionsIn recent years, some provinces/regions in China have conducted various molecular epidemiological studies to identify the Blastocystis subtypes. It is important to focus on new subtypes and mixed subtypes of infection, while increasing data on ribosomal alleles. We encourage the scientific community to start research on humans and surrounding animals (including domestic and wild animals) to better understand the possibility of Blastocystis transmission between humans and animals. We call for action among researchers studying intestinal parasitic diseases (Blastocystis), start drawing the subtype of Blastocystis and increase the subtype related to its clinical symptoms.
Highlights
Blastocystis is ubiquitous presence in animals and humans worldwide and has a high level genetic diversity
A high rate of asymptomatic carriers exist in Blastocystis infections, and it is still uncertain whether the clinical symptoms of Blastocystis infection are related to a specific subtype or several subtypes of Blastocystis; or whether it is colonized by multiple parasites, causing the pathogenicity in Blastocystis under strong debate [2, 3]
Distribution of investigation of Blastocystis infection For the study of Blastocystis infection in humans, we divide the humans into the general population, students, children, hospitalized or outpatients, diarrhea cases, and people with Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or tuberculosis and other diseases
Summary
Blastocystis is ubiquitous presence in animals and humans worldwide and has a high level genetic diversity. The aim of this study was to conduct a summary of Blastocystis prevalence, subtypes (STs) in humans and animals in China and depict their distribution. A high rate of asymptomatic carriers exist in Blastocystis infections, and it is still uncertain whether the clinical symptoms of Blastocystis infection are related to a specific subtype or several subtypes of Blastocystis; or whether it is colonized by multiple parasites, causing the pathogenicity in Blastocystis under strong debate [2, 3]. We describe our summary of the studies about epidemiology of Blastocystis in humans and animals throughout China, and aim to depict the prevalence of Blastocystis in different provinces, display the distribution of Blastocystis subtypes among different hosts (humans and animals)
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