Blastocystis hominis: occurrence in children and staff members of municipal day-care centers from Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil

Abstract

To study the frequency of Blastocystis hominis among healthy individuals, feces were collected from 153 children and 20 staff members of some municipal day-care centers. Three separate stool specimens of each individual were processed by Lutz and Faust methods. From 173 studied individuals, 60 (34.7%) showed B. hominis, frequently in association with other intestinal parasites and/or commensals. B. hominis was found mainly in adults and children between 36 and 72 months old. All positive cases were detected only by Lutz method and the use of three stool specimens increased the positivity of the parasitological diagnostic.

New Insights on Classification, Identification, and Clinical Relevance of Blastocystis spp

“…Direct microscopy is usually done with stained specimens. Multiple stool specimens should be examined, since the parasite may exhibit irregular shedding (88,281). Morphological features that may aid in the laboratory diagnosis of Blastocystis infection are summarized in Table 2.…”

Blastocistosis en pre-escolares de Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela

“…Asi lo demuestra el número creciente de estudios realizados en los últimos años (Gallagher & Venglarcick, 1985;Guimarães & Sogayar, 1993;O'Gorman et al, 1993;Nimri, 1993;Nimri & Batchoun, 1994).…”

“…En 32 niños, se identificó B. hominis en sus heces, lo que representa una prevalencia de 18,93% ± 5,91%. Nimri (1993), en Jordan, encontró 25% de prevalencia en pre-escolares con gastroenteritis; (Guimarães & Sogayar, 1993). Estas prevalencias son superiores a la señalada en el presente estudio.…”

“…Hasta finales de la década de los años ochenta no era reportado rutinariamente en los resultados de los exámenes coproparasitológicos, pues sólo representaba un problema de diagnóstico diferencial (Mercado & Arias, 1991;Guimarães & Sogayar, 1993).…”

“…Su prevalencia a nivel mundial es muy variable y depende del grupo etário, área geográfica y factores del parásito no bien estudiados todavía (Boreham & Stenzel, 1993). En la población pediátrica, la enfermedad ha comenzado a ser estudiada con mayor atención, pero aún faltan muchos aspectos por determinar (Gallagher & Venglarcick, 1985;Garavelli et al, 1991;Guimarães & Sogayar, 1993;Nimri, 1993;O'Gorman et al, 1993;Navarrete & Torres, 1994).…”