Reply

Abstract

We read the comments of Dr Thomas Weitzel of Berlin, Germany, regarding our manuscript concerning Blastocystis hominis infestation (J Pediatr Surg 2006;41:1489-91) and thank him for his interest on the subject with which we mostly agree. After a review of literature, he suggest that “the pathogenicity of B hominis is a matter of intense debate since case reports link the organism to intestinal and extra-intestinal diseases. Still, several prospective controlled studies could not prove any link.” This is what we noted in our article, as well. In the first few sentences of the introduction section of the article, we indicated that “Blastocystis hominis is an enteric protozoan which may be associated with clinical illness such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, abdominal ballooning, anorexia, vomiting and urticaria [ 1 Stenzel D.J. Boreham P.F.L. Blastocystis hominis revisited. Clin Microbiol Rev. 1996; 9: 563-584 PubMed Google Scholar , 2 O'Gorman M.A. Orenstein S.R. Proujansky R. et al. Prevalence and characteristics of Blastocystis hominis infection in children. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 1993; 32: 91-96 Crossref PubMed Scopus (30) Google Scholar , 3 Qadri S.M. al-Okaili G.A. al-Dayel F. Clinical significance of Blastocystis hominis. J Clin Microbiol. 1989; 27: 2407-2409 PubMed Google Scholar ]. Rarely a more invasive form of the disease with rectal bleeding can occur [ 4 al-Tawil Y.S. Gilger M.A. Gopalakrishna G.S. et al. Invasive Blastocystis hominis infection in a child. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1994; 148: 882-885 Crossref PubMed Scopus (35) Google Scholar , 5 Zuckerman M.J. Watts M.T. Ho H. et al. Blastocystis hominis infection and intestinal injury. Am J Med Sci. 1994; 308: 96-101 Crossref PubMed Scopus (40) Google Scholar ]. Blastocystis hominis has long been described as a non-pathogenic protozoan parasite until recently when claims have been made that it could be the cause of intestinal disorders [ 1 Stenzel D.J. Boreham P.F.L. Blastocystis hominis revisited. Clin Microbiol Rev. 1996; 9: 563-584 PubMed Google Scholar , 2 O'Gorman M.A. Orenstein S.R. Proujansky R. et al. Prevalence and characteristics of Blastocystis hominis infection in children. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 1993; 32: 91-96 Crossref PubMed Scopus (30) Google Scholar , 6 Sinniah B. Rajeswari B. Blastocystis hominis infection, a cause of human diarrhea. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health. 1994; 25: 490-493 PubMed Google Scholar ].”