ABSTRACT
HIV infection is the most disastrous and invariably fatal disease. Its devastating effect is due to its relentless and eventually complete destruction of the immune system. As a result, people infected with HIV die not due to the virus itself, but rather due to plethora of opportunistic infections that characterize AIDS. Intestinal parasitic infections are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in patients infected with HIV in which Diarrhoea is one of the most common clinical presentations.1 With this background, a prospective study was carried out to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasites in HIV seropositive patients attending an Integrated Counselling Testing Centre (ICTC) of a tertiary care hospital.METHODSA cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care multispecialty teaching hospital for a period of one year. Stool specimens of 250 HIV seropositive patients above 18 years of age and belonging to all genders, were screened for intestinal parasites in the present study. The stool specimens submitted were processed using direct wet mounts, concentration technique of formol ether, sedimentation and saturated common salt solution, and permanent staining techniques using Modified Acid-Fast staining, Trichrome staining and Modified Trichrome staining methods.RESULTSThe prevalence of intestinal parasites in HIV seropositive patients was found to be 27.6% (69/250). Protozoan parasites were predominant and were detected in 81.15% (56/69), followed by intestinal helminths in 11.59% (8/69) and coccidian parasites in 7.24% (5/69).CONCLUSIONSIntestinal parasites are a common source of infection in HIV seropositive patients. These patients are a threat not only to themselves but also to others in the community as well. Hence routine screening of all HIV seropositive patients is a must in order to prevent and reduce morbidity and mortality in the community.