Abstract
We aimed to determine the prevalence and type of the intestinal parasites in healthy, cancer and survivor children after cancer therapy, and to evaluate whether there are any differences in incidence and types of parasites during their neutropenic period. Three different patient groups were formed. Group I and Group II were immune deficient patients with hematologic malignancy or solid tumors, and Group I were receiving intensive chemotherapy and had absolute neutrophil count less than 1000/mm³. Group II were receiving maintenance chemotherapy and had normal absolute neutrophil counts. One hundred and seventy two patients, who did not receive chronic immune suppressant treatment and who did not have immune deficiency were chosen among the patients admitted to pediatric hematology outpatient clinic. Parasitic evaluation of stools was performed on three consequtive days. Prevalence of parasite in Group I patients was significantly higher than other groups. The most commonly detected parasite in all groups was Giardia intestinalis. The presence of parasite in patients with absolute neutrophil counts below 1000/mm³ was found to be significantly higher than in patients with absolute neutrophil counts above 1000/mm³. Parasitic infections should not be ignored when these types of patients present with infection findings.
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