Intestinal Parasites in Diabetes Mellitus Patients in the Limbe and Buea Municipalities, Cameroon

Abstract

Background:Intestinal parasites are an important cause of morbidity and mortality and a public health problem especially in tropical developing countries including Cameroon. The two main types of intestinal parasites are helminths and protozoa which are important causes of infections in immunocompromised individuals. Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a metabolic non-communicable disease in which a person has high blood glucose. DM is an increasing problem in our community today and diabetics have been reported to be immunocompromised. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and type of intestinal parasites in DM patients living in Buea and Limbe municipalities. Methods: This hospital based cross sectional study involved a total 150 diabetic patients and 85 non-diabetic individuals which served as control group. Questionnaires were administered to the Diabetic patients only. Fresh stool specimens were collected and processed using Direct Microscopy, Formalin-Ether Concentration, Stoll's technique and Modified Ziehl Nielsen staining techniques. Data was analyzed using Microsoft Office Excel 2013 and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.

Incidence of Some Intestinal Parasites among Diabetic Patients Suffering from Gastroenteritis

“…These impacts become more severe when it was accompanied by chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus and hypertension. Consequently the rate of intestinal parasites among DM patients with gastroenteritis in current study 14.79 % was high from the overall rate of parasitic infection 82.81 %.this rate was higher than that recorded in Cameroon by (Tangi et al, 2016) whom they recorded 10 %. The difference might be attributed to the size of samples examined in current study 419 compare to 235 samples examined in Cameroon.…”

“…Whereas it was lower than that 18.7 % in Nigeria recorded by (Akinbo et al, 20163)) and 47 % in south-east Turkey by (Nazligul et al, 2001). Geographical location may account for this difference as the Olusegun et al (cited in Tangi et al, 2016) study was proceeded in Nigeria and the (Nazligul et al, 2001) study was done in Sanliurfa province which was an endemic zone for intestinal parasites.…”

Frequency of Intestinal Parasites in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus Compared with Healthy Controls in Fasa, Fars Province, Iran, 2018

“…The study results are similar to our study. Overall, the prevalence of intestinal parasites in the control group (23.5%) was higher than the patient group (10%) (8). Altogether, our data were similar to studies of Nazligul et al in Turkey, Ali et al in Egypt, and Akinbo et al in Nigeria (3,14,15).…”

“…After a long survey in databases, we found controversial results about significant differences between the patient and control groups. Tangi (8) in Cameroon carried out a hospital-based study to show the difference between patients and controls. The study results are similar to our study.…”

“…Some studies conducted in this field and the published data showed a paradoxical picture after the comparison of frequencies in the two groups of patients and controls. Some of them reported higher infections in diabetic patients compared with the control group and some reported contradictory results (5)(6)(7)(8). On the other hand, most of these studies are not so inclusive to cover all parasites e.g.…”