ABSTRACT
Blastocystis hominis is an intestinal protozoan found worldwide, particularly in developing countries, that may cause gastrointestinal symptoms, including diarrhea. We conducted a hospital-based study to identify clinical factors predictive of diarrhea caused by B. hominis. We studied patients with positive stool samples for B. hominis by formalin ethyl acetate concentration technique at Srinagarind Hospital, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand between 2003 and 2010. Patients were divided into diarrhea and non-diarrhea groups. Diarrhea patients were categorized if the diarrhea was associated with B. hominis only. In total, 81 patients with isolated B. hominis infection were studied. Of those, 17 patients (21%) had diarrhea associated with B. hominis infection. Eight variables were included in the final model predicting diarrhea caused by B. hominis on multiple logistic regression analysis. Only serum albumin level was significantly associated with diarrhea cases in this study with an adjusted OR of 0.162 and a 95% CI of 0.027- 0.957. Hypoalbuminemia is associated with diarrhea associated with blastocystosis.
Subject(s)
Blastocystis Infections/blood , Blastocystis Infections/epidemiology , Diarrhea/blood , Diarrhea/epidemiology , Hypoalbuminemia/epidemiology , Adult , Aged , Blastocystis hominis/isolation & purification , Diarrhea/parasitology , Feces/parasitology , Female , Humans , Logistic Models , Male , Middle AgedABSTRACT
Blastocystis hominis is a foodborne protozoan found in the human feces worldwide. One hundred and ninety-nine individuals with stool samples positive for B. hominis were identified from a pool of 14,325 patient stools collected between 2003 and 2010 from Srinagarind hospital in Thailand. The medical records of patients were reviewed for demographic and clinical data. Of the 85 patients (42.7%) who had B. hominis infection with no co-infections, 42.5% experienced gastrointestinal symptoms. Abdominal pain is the most frequently observed symptom followed by diarrhea. Strongyloides stercolaris and Opisthorchis viverrini were the predominant parasitic co-infections in blastocystosis patients. The infection rates of B. hominis were high during the rainy season. Most B. hominis-infected patients (94%) had underlying diseases; malignancy and chronic diseases were equally top ranked (35.3%) which indicated that B. hominis is an opportunistic protozoan.
