Parasitological and serological studies on Amoebiasis and other intestinal parasitic infections in Recife and its suburban area, northeast Brazil

Abstract

SUMMARYParasitological examinations were carried out during April to August, 1987, with 187 out-patients of the IMIP hospital, located in the center of Recife City, and 464 inhabitants of several villages around Cabo City, 50 Km southeast of Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. Approximately 71% of the IMIP patients and 92% of the Cabo inhabitants were infected with at least one species of intestinal parasite. There was minimum difference in the prevalence rate of Trichuris trichiura between two areas, whereas the prevalence rates of Ascaris lumbricoides, hookworms, Strongyloides stercoralis, Schistosoma mansoni and Entamoeba histolytica were higher in the inhabitants of the Cabo City area. Only Giardia lamblia was more prevalent in the out-patients of IMIP hospital. Test tube cultivation revealed that the prevalence rate of Necator americanus in both areas was much higher than that of Ancylostoma duodenale , and also that the prevalence rate of S. stercoralis of the IMIP patients and Cabo inhabitants were 4.5% and 9.6%, respectively. Six hundred and fifteen sera were serologically examined for amoebiasis by the gel diffusion precipitation test (GDP) and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using the antigen prepared from axenically cultured trophozoite of E. histolytica (strain HM-ITMSS). No positive reaction was observed in all of the sera as examined by GDP, while 32 out of 615 sera were positive on ELISA.

Determination of the Prevalence of Entamoeba Histolytica and E. Dispar in the Pernambuco State of Northeastern Brazil by a Polymerase Chain Reaction

“…The methodology used in these studies has ranged from traditional serologic tests, such as gel diffusion precipitin (GDP) and zymodemes, to molecular biology techniques such as restriction endonuclease digestion of amplified genomic DNA. [3][4][5][6][7] These investigations showed the presence of both E. histolytica and E. dispar in the Amazon region (northern area) with a higher prevalence of E. histolytica, while E. dispar predominated in the northeastern region.…”

“…2 The prevalence of E. histolytica in developing countries is often assumed to be high, frequently without supporting data. 3 Studies on E. histolytica carried out at the Laborató rio de Imunopatologia Keizo Asami in Recife between 1988 and 1994 among low-income populations have shown differences in the prevalence of this organism in the northern, northeastern, southeastern regions of Brazil. The methodology used in these studies has ranged from traditional serologic tests, such as gel diffusion precipitin (GDP) and zymodemes, to molecular biology techniques such as restriction endonuclease digestion of amplified genomic DNA.…”

Acute diarrhea in children less than 3 years of age: Enteropathogens isolated in patients’ stools, compared with a control group

“…Esses dados são concordantes com outros estudos efetivados em nosso meio, em que a prevalência desse patógeno tem sido da ordem de 0% a 3% em casos de diarréia 36,38 . Okasaki et al 38 , em pesquisa realizada em estados do nordeste do Brasil, chamavam a atenção para o fato de que nas populações em que se verificava a presença endêmica de Entamoeba histolytica, o achado de cistos em pesquisa parasitológica de fezes não se relacionava com a viragem sorológica dos portadores, o que, na maioria das vezes, vinha a descartar a capacidade de enteroinvasividade das cepas encontradas. Tem sido valorizada a visualização de trofozoítas com hemácias fagocitadas no interior como critério sugestivo de invasividade, o que permite associar a amebíase à diarréia em questão.…”

Diagnóstico parasitológico e imunológico da Strongiloidíase em crianças imunocompetentes e imunodeprimidas

“…O conteúdo duodenal pode ser examinado pela intubação duodenal ou "Enterotest", ou pelo "string test" (LIU, WELLER, 1993 (GORDON et al, 1994). Existem relatos na literatura onde a estrongiloidíase severa foi confirmada por métodos não usuais de diagnóstico, incluindo a biópsia do sistema digestivo (NEWTON et al, 1992), o exame do fluido alveolar (GENTA, MILES, FIELDS, 1989), a secreção respiratória analisada pelo microscópio fluorescente (NOMURA, REKRUT, 1996), o sangue periférico (ONUIGBO, IBEACHUM, 1991) e o fluido cerebroespinhal (TAKAYANAGUI et al, 1995 BERK, 1995;KOBAYASHI, et al, 1996) sendo portanto recomendado para pesquisas epidemiológicas e clínicas sobre a estrongiloidíase (ARAKANI et al, 1990).…”

“…Os parasitos são usualmente encontrados nas fezes, fluidos corporais ou amostras de tecidos(ONUIGBO IBEACHUM, 1991). A identificação torna-se mais acurada quando os parasitos adultos assim como os estágios larvais são avaliados pelo exame morfológico direto sendo isto raramente possível com os espécimes clínicos(GROVE, 1996), uma vez que, o parasito é encontrado em número muito pequeno na grande maioria das pessoas e a liberação larval nas fezes muitas vezes é mínima e irregular.…”