Prevalence of intestinal helminth infection among human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome patients attending Aminu Kano teaching hospital

Abstract

Background: Helminth and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections have a major effect on the host immune system, and coinfection is widespread. About 17%–66% of the world populations are infected with helminth and approximately 24% of the world's population is infected with intestinal helminth. The majority of this infection occurs in resource-limited settings like sub-Saharan Africa which includes Nigeria. Materials and Methods: Stool samples were collected from 297 participants comprising 150 HIV/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)-infected individuals as test group and 147 HIV/AIDS-uninfected individuals as control group attending Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital. The samples were examined using direct wet mount and formol-ether concentration techniques. Results: The overall prevalence of intestinal helminth infection was 18.0% for the test group and 2.7% for the control group. Hookworm was found to be the most prevalent intestinal helminth parasite detected with 7.07%, followed by Ascaris lumbricoides (2.69%) and Fasciola species (0.67%), respectively. Some protozoan parasites were also detected, namely Entamoeba coli (3.4%) and Entamoeba histolytica (2.7%). Six of the participants had multiple infections with hookworm and E. histolytica (3 [1.0%]), A. lumbricoides and E. coli (2 [0.7%]), and A. lumbricoides and E. histolytica (1 [0.3%]). A statistically significant association was observed between the type of toilet used, animal rearing, handwashing, and intestinal helminth infection (P 0.02, 0.003, and 0.000). No statistical association exists between sources of water, walking barefooted, and intestinal helminth infection (P 0.211 and 0.942). Conclusion: This study revealed an increased prevalence of intestinal helminth infection among the test group than the control group, as such stool examination should be part of the routine laboratory investigations for HIV/AIDS patients to have effective and proper management of the patients.