Parasitosis among apparently healthy immigrant workers at Dammam, Saudi Arabia

A cross sectional study was conducted on randomly selected 161 apparently healthy immigrant workers in Dammam City, with ages ranged between 21 to years. A required data were taken via a designed questionnaire and stool samples were collected and examined microscopically by direct wet mount [saline and iodine stained smears] and by formalin ether concentration sedimentation technique. The results showed 99/161 [55.3%] suffered parasitosis. These are in a descending order they were E. histolytica [50.5%], Giardia lamblia [38.8%], Enterobius. vermicularis [12.1%], Entamaeba coli [12.1%], Trichuris trichiura [11.1%], Hymenolepis. nana [11.1%], Schisto-soma haematobiumn [10.1%], A. scaris lumbricoides [9.09%], S. mansosoni [7.07%], Dicrocelium dendriticum [5.05%], and Fasciola species [3.03%]. On the other hand, 72 [44.7%] of the immigrant workers were Toxoplasma gondii ELISA-IgG positive. The intervention programs including health education, strict supervision of health authorities on immigrant workers as well as environmental sanitation are required

Brucellosis in Egyptian female patients

Over six months, 129 consecutive brucellosis cases were diagnosed in females attending the outpatients' clinics the females in Al-Azhar and Ain Shams Universities Hospitals. Their ages ranged between 12-65 years old. 113 [87.6%] gave history of raw milk consumption, 13 [10%] gave history of home slaughtering of sheep, 2 [1.5%] gave history of animal contact, and one patient gave history of abortion, that partner had brucellosis. A total of 61.2% of patients gave serum agglutination test of 1: 640, who suffered acute or subacute infection. Titers of 1:320 [38.8%] were found in the majority of chronic cases. Causes of endemic parasitosis were excluded. Symptoms were fever [79.5%], headache [72.4%], generalized arthralgia [65.3%], sweating [65.3%], chills [63.8%], backache [34.6%], abdominal pain [27.5%], loss of appetite [25.5%] lassitude [17.2%], myalgia [14.2%], monoarthralgia [7.9%]. Spinal involvement was in 15% patients, who had chronic brucellosis. 32/35 were successfully treated with a combination of streptomycin and tetracycline, 17/21 with streptomycin and septrin, 38/43 with tetracycline and septrin, and 26/26 [100%] with rifampicin and tetracycline or septrin, which treated all resistant patients

Human fascioliasis and anaemia in Dakahlia governorate, Egypt

Fasciola infection [fascioliasis] appeared to be endemic in Egypt. Stool samples of fourty eight patients were coprologically diagnosed. According to Fasciola egg counting per gram stool, the severity of infection was divided into light infection in 60.5%, moderate in 27.1% and severe infection in 12.5%. No significant correlation was detected between severity of infection, and patients' sex. Complete blood picture, reticylocytic count, serum iron, immunological assays as anti-nuclear, anti- smooth muscle antibody, anti-mitochondrial anti-body, anti- DNA tests and rheumatoid factor and occult blood in stool were investigated. Normocytic normochromic anaemia was detected in 62.5% of the fascioliasis patients, microcytic hypochromic anaemia in 3 1.3% and macrocytic one in 6.3%. Highly significant negative correlation [R = -0.68] was detected between haemoglobin concentration and egg count per gram faeces. Human fascioliasis was associated with normocytic normochromic anaemia and to a lesser extent microcytic hypochromic anemia

Egyptian genotyping of Giardia lamblia

In this study, out of 105 patients infected with Giardia, 38 patients had genotype I, 13 had genotype II, 10 had genotype III, 16 had mixed genotype infection and 28 with undetermined Giardia infection by polymerase chain reaction [PCR]. None of the control group gave positive results for Giardia in stool by PCR. So, the sensitivity of the test for the detection and identification of Giardia genotypes from the original stool samples was 73.33% and the specificity was 100%. Out of 61 cases in the symptomatic group, the prevalence of Giardia genotype I was 32.79%, genotype II was 16.39%, genotype III was 9.84%, mixed genotype infection was 16.39% and undetermined genotype was 24.59% as compared with 40.91%, 6.82%, 9.09%, 13.64% and 29.55% in the asymptomatic group, respectively. There was a statistically insignificant difference between both groups regarding the prevalence of the different Giardia genotypes