Prevalence of intestinal helminthic infections and skin tests for Paragonimus and Clonorchis in tuberculosis patients

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate prevalence of intestinal helminthic infections and skin tests and Paragonimus and Clonorchis in tuberculosis(TB) patients in Korea. Stool examinations by formalin-ether technique and intradermal tests were carried out in 2 areas; Masan TB hospital and Kong-Ju TB hospital. 1. The positive rate of intestinal helminths of any kind was 51.7 % among 329 patients in Masan hospital, but 18.1 % among 215 patients in Kong-Ju hospital. 2. The infection rates of Trichocephalus trichiurus and Clonorchis sinensis were 20.7 % and 17.6 % respectively in Masan hospital patients, but the infection rates of T. trichiurus and C. sinensis were 6.5 % and 6.0 % respectively in Kong-Ju hospital patients. 3. In skin tests, positive reactions to Paragonimus and Clonorchis antigens were 22.0 % and 37.6 % respectively in Masan hospital patients. On the contrary, Kong-Ju hospital patients showed the positive rates of 15.2 % for Paragonimus and 27.2 % for Clonorchis respectively.

Co-infection of tuberculosis and parasitic diseases in humans: a systematic review

“…We also found 5 epidemiological studies in which prevalence of co-infection varied widely [30-34], and found that it was evident in 18 studies that the activity of the host’s immune system was altered during co-infection happened [27,34-42,44-51]. Therefore, assessing co-infection characteristics, influencing factors and impact on immunity is important to control and prevention whether for TB or parasitic diseases.…”

“…In Sudan, up to 77% of TB patients were positive for the leishmania skin test in the community [31]; 32% of TB patients from hospitals had intestinal parasites and 29% of TB patients from the community had intestinal helminths in Ethiopia [32,34]; and 32.4-38.2% of TB patients from hospitals were also infected with Schistosomes in Tanzania [33]. We also noticed the prevalence differentials in Korea, where the infection rates of Trichocephalus trichiurus and Clonorchis sinensis were 20.7% and 17.6% respectively among TB patients in one hospital, but the infection rates were 6.5% and 6.0% respectively in another hospital [30]. Among the PTB patients from a hospital in Tanzania, the HIV-positive patients had a significantly lower prevalence of hookworm and Schistosome infection and a higher prevalence of malaria than the HIV-negative patients [33], which indicates HIV also has an impact on prevalence of co-infection.…”

“…About 17 parasite genera concurrent with M. TB were reviewed as case reports, epidemiological surveys and immunological research, which were divided into protozoa ( Entamoeba [32,49], Leishmania [8-16,31], Giardia lamblia [28,32], Trichomonas [17], Plasmodium [18,33,35,37,38], Toxoplasma [19-21]) and helminths ( Clonorchis sinensis [30], Opisthorchis [39,40], Schistosoma [22,33,34], Taenia [32], Echinococcus [23-27], Ascaris lumbricoides [32,34,49], Toxocara [20], Trichuris trichiura [30,32,34], Ancylostoma [32-34], Strongyloides stercoralis [28,32,34,49], Filaria [29,43,44]) and covered most of the common parasites species. Of those, leishmaniasis, hydatid disease and malaria were reported to coexist more freuequently with TB in the human body.…”

“…The co-infection of TB and parasitic diseases have been reported in many studies for almost the past 70 years, although great achievements have been gained in the fields of TB and parasitic disease control and prevention respectively [2-5]. Up to 2012, some cases of co-infection between TB and parasitic diseases were reported around the world [8-29], and some epidemiological surveys of co-infection in hospitals or communities were carried out [30-34]. Some of these studies showed that the immune response was modified in the co-infection situation [35-51].…”