Intestinal Protozoa in Libyan patients in Sirt

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted on 700 patients aged from 2-60 years from both gender, who were attending out patients' clinics of Ibn Sina Hospital from summer 2002 to Dec 2003, complaining of abdominal pain [acute or recurrent], vomiting and/or diarrhoea. They were investigated for the presence of parasitic infections by stool analysis using formalin ether sedimentation method. Our results revealed that 76% of samples were positive for intestinal parasites, and the remaining 24% were due to other causes. Multiple infections were found in 54.5% of the positive samples, Entamoeba Histolytica was the commonest infection detected in [35.9%]. Children from 2-10 years were the most commonly infected more than the other age groups; abdominal pain and diarrhoea were common presentations among the total positive cases