Abstract
BackgroundBlastocystis sp. is one of the most common intestinal protozoa in humans. Unlike other intestinal parasitic infections such as giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis, the epidemiology of blastocystosis in children who live in crowded settings such as day-care centers and orphanages has been rarely explored.MethodsA retrospective cohort study was conducted to evaluate incidence and risk factors of Blastocystis infection in an orphanage every two consecutive months during April 2003 to April 2004, in Bangkok, Thailand. Blastocystis sp. was identified using direct simple smear, and in vitro cultivation in Jones' medium.ResultsThe incidence rate was 1.8/100 person-months and the independent risk factors associated with Blastocystis infection were age, nutritional status and orphans living in the room where their childcare workers were infected.ConclusionsPerson-to-person transmission was most likely to occur either from orphans to childcare workers or from childcare workers to orphans living in the same room. Universal precautions such as regular hand washing and careful handling of fecally contaminated materials are indicated.
Highlights
Blastocystis sp. is one of the most common intestinal protozoa in humans
Blastocystis sp., one of the most common intestinal protozoa in humans, has a worldwide distribution and is frequently seen in stool samples identified in parasitological surveys
* Correspondence: mathirut@hotmail.com 3Department of Parasitology, Phramongkutklao College of Medicine, Ratchathewi, Bangkok 10400, Thailand Full list of author information is available at the end of the article parasitic infections such as giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis, the epidemiology of blastocystosis in children who live in crowded settings such as day-care centers and orphanages has been rarely explored
Summary
Blastocystis sp. is one of the most common intestinal protozoa in humans. Unlike other intestinal parasitic infections such as giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis, the epidemiology of blastocystosis in children who live in crowded settings such as day-care centers and orphanages has been rarely explored. Is one of the most common intestinal protozoa in humans. Blastocystis sp., one of the most common intestinal protozoa in humans, has a worldwide distribution and is frequently seen in stool samples identified in parasitological surveys. Has been reported in developing countries [7,8] while in Thailand, the prevalence of Blastocystis carriage in various groups is as high as 11-37% [9,10,11]. Most studies of Blastocystis infection in young Thai children were performed using cross-sectional design [15,16,17,18] so the epidemiological information including incidence, true risk factors and natural history of this infection is still lacking.
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