Prevalence of Intestinal parasites at a Tertiary Care Centre at the Foothills of Himalayas, Srinagar, Uttarakhand, India: A six-year Observational Study

Intestinal parasitic infections is a serious public health problem in most of the regions of the world, especially in developing countries, and represents a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children and among high-risk groups. Aims: To find out the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections in Garhwal region of Uttarakhand and compare and correlate it with gender, age group and area (rural or urban). Methods: The collected stool samples were subjected to routine stool investigations during the study, i.e. Macroscopic examination was carried out for the presence adult worms or their body segments and microscopic examination such as stool wet mounts (both saline and iodine mounts); modified acid-fast staining for Cryptosporidium and Isospora and ELISA for Cryptosporidium were done. Results: Out of total 3614 patients, 197 (5.45%) (excluding Cryptosporidium ) and 338(9.35%) (Including Cryptosporidium), while 141(3.90%)(only Cryptosporidium )had parasitic infection. Maximum numbers (average) of patients were enrolled in month of May (102, 16.94%) and June (87, 14.45%). Maximum number of patients were in the age group of 1-10yrs (949, 26.26%) whereas out of these110 patients were found positive (11.6%). On the other hand, out of 343 patients in 11-20yrs age group, 46 (13.4%) were found positive and least number of patients were from <1year age group. Mostly male patients were affected by parasitic infections (60.06%). Parasite most commonly isolated was Cryptosporidium 141(41.72%), followed by Giardia lamblia 74(21.89%) and hookworm 40(11.83%). One cases each of trematodes, Fasciola hepatica (both ova and adult) and Clonorchis (ova) whereas two cases of Isospora belli were also seen. Conclusion: Prevalence of intestinal parasites (9.35%) is low in Garhwal region of Uttarakhand.

Cryptosporidium infection in Nanjing City from 2015 to 2016 / 中国血吸虫病防治杂志

Objective To investigate the status of Cryptosporidium infection in the population in Nanjing City so as to pro-vide the evidence for the prevention and control of cryptosporidiosis. Methods A total of 100 fecal samples were collected from each of three districts(Liuhe,Qixia and Gaochun)and one hospital(Nanjing Zhongda Hospital)in 2015 and 2016 respective-ly. The fecal samples were detected for Cryptosporidium with microscopy(by using the gold amine phenol-modified acid-fast staining)and the positive samples were detected again for the molecular biology confirming by using the fluorescence quantita-tive PCR. Results During the two years,581 cases of normal population who lived in the city were surveyed and no Cryptospo-ridium infection was found. Among 202 cases of outpatients with chronic diarrhea,there were 9 Cryptosporidium positive cases with the microscope scanning method (4.46％),and among the 9 cases,7 cases showed obvious logarithmic amplification curves showing positive Cryptosporidium nucleic acid,but 2 cases without the obvious logarithmic amplification curves,and the Cryptosporidium nucleic acid positive rate was 3.47％. Conclusions Cryptosporidium infection is not found in the normal popu-lation of Nanjing City,but the Cryptosporidium infection is found in the chronic diarrhea patients. The results imply that we should strengthen the detection of Cryptosporidium in the chronic diarrhea patients,so as to provide the evidence for improving the diagnosis and treatment of cryptosporidiosis.

Investigation on human Cryptosporidium infection in local area of Anhui Province / 中国血吸虫病防治杂志

Objective To investigate the status of Cryptosporidium infection in the population in the local area of Anhui Prov?ince,and discuss the risk factors of the infection,so as to provide the evidence for the prevention and treatment of cryptosporidi?osis. Methods Qianshan County and Lingbi County of Anhui Province were selected as investigation spots,and the oocysts of Cryptosporidium in the feces of the investigation objects and the specific IgG antibody against Cryptosporidium in the serum were checked by using the pathogenic modified acid fast staining method and ELISA,respectively,so as to determine the status of Cryptosporidium infection in these investigation objects. At the same time,the questionnaire surveys were conducted in the inves?tigation objects so as to know about the risk factors of Cryptosporidium infection. Results A total of 668 people were investigat?ed in the two counties,635 people received etiological examinations,and 15 people were positive with the positive rate of 2.36%;642 people received serological examinations,and 140 people were positive with the positive rate of 21.81%;628 peo?ple received pathogenic and serological examinations at the same time,and the examination results of the both methods showed that 12 people were positive(there were 4 people in Qianshan County and 8 people in Lingbi County),and the positive rate was 1.94%. The rates of Cryptosporidium infection in the population of Qianshan County and Lingbi County were 1.24%(4/322)and 2.71%(8/295)respectively,and the difference had no statistical significance(P>0.05). The single factor analysis found that the rate of Cryptosporidium infection was higher in the children and diarrhea patients;the multivariate logistics regression analy?sis indicated that the rate of Cryptosporidium infection was higher in the people who bred poultry and the diarrhea patients. Con?clusions The positive rate of serum antibody of Cryptosporidium in the population of the local area of Anhui Province is higher, which indicates that the previous infection is serious,and the rate of Cryptosporidium infection in human is relative to the age, diarrhea and whether there are poultries to be bred in the family,which is worthy of attention in the future prevention and treat?ment.

Prevalence and molecular characterization of Cryptosporidium spp. in dairy cattle from farms in China

Fecal samples of 2,056 dairy cattle from 14 farms were collected in three geographical regions of China and stained using a modified acid-fast staining technique to identify Cryptosporidium oocysts. A total of 387 (18.82%) positive samples were identified and further analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using primers designed to amplify DNA fragments from the small subunit ribosomal RNA. The PCR products were sequenced and the sequences were deposited in the GenBank database under accession numbers EU369377-84 and GU070730-33. Phylogenetic analysis was performed and a distances matrix generated from these sequences confirmed the existence of Cryptosporidium (C.) parvum 'mouse' genotype, C. bovis, C. andersoni, C. hominis, and C. serpentis in cattle. These results represent the first report on the prevalence and genetic identification of Cryptosporidium species, and may contribute to a better understanding of the epidemiology of Cryptosporidium in cattle in China.

A Study on Cryptosporidium Infection in Patients with Chronic Severe Hepatitis B / 中国医师杂志

Objective To explore the relationship between chronic severe hepatitis and cryptosporidium infection to provide evidences for scientific prevention and treatment of chronic severe hepatitis. Methods Fecal samples of 218 patients with chronic severe hepatitis B (CSHB) and 140 children with diarrhea were collected, and were examined for cryptosporidium oocytes by using auramine-phenol staining method (AA-p) and modified acid-fast staining method (MAF), and for cryptosporidium DNA by PCR and restriction digestion analysis. The factors affecting cryptosporidium infection of patients with CSHB were preliminarily analyzed. Results The positive rates of cryptosporidium infection detected by AA-p, MAF and PCR in the patients with CSHB and children with diarrhea were 4.1%, 3.2%, 6.0% and 0.7%, 0.7%, 1.4%, respectively. The positive rate of cryptosporidium infection detected by PCR in patients with CSHB was higher than that in children with diarrhea (P