Diarrheal diseases are the major causes of morbidity and mortality in developing world. Understanding the etiologic agents of diarrheal diseases and their association with socio-demographic ...characteristics of patients would help to design better preventive measures. Thus, this study was aimed to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasites and enteropathogenic bacteria in diarrheic patients.
A cross-sectional study involving 384 consecutive diarrheal patients who visited Gondar teaching hospital, Gondar, Ethiopia from October 2006 to March 2007 was conducted. Stool specimens were collected and examined for intestinal parasites and enteropathogenic bacteria following standard parasitological and microbiological procedures.
Intestinal parasites were diagnosed in 36.5% of the patients. The most frequently encountered protozoan parasite was Entamoeba histolytica/dispar (7.3%) followed by Giardia lamblia (5.0%), Cryptosporidium parvum (1.8%) and Isospora belli (1.3%). The dominant helminthic parasite identified was Ascaris lumbricoides (5.5%) followed by Strongyloides stercoralis and Schistosoma mansoni (3.1% each), hookworm infection (1.8%), and Hymenolepis species (1.3%). Multiple infections of intestinal parasites were also observed in 6.3% of the patients. Among the enteropathogenic bacteria Shigella and Salmonella species were isolated from 15.6% and 1.6%, respectively, of the patients. Escherichia coli O57:H7 was not found in any of the stool samples tested. Eighty eight percent and 83.3% of the Shigella and Salmonella isolates were resistant to one or more commonly used antibiotics, respectively.Intestinal parasitosis was higher in patients who live in rural area, in patients who were washing their hands after visiting toilet either irregularly with soap and without soap or not at all, in patients who used well and spring water for household consumption, and in patients who had nausea (P < 0.05). Statistically significant associations were also observed between Shigella infections and patients who were using well and spring water for household consumption, and patients who had dysentery and mucoid stool (P < 0.05).
The high prevalence of intestinal parasites and Shigella species in diarrheic patients calls for institution of appropriate public health intervention measures to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with these diseases. The rational use of antibiotics should also be practiced.
The prevalence of HIV has been continually increasing both in urban and rural Ethiopia. As yet, there has been no report on the magnitude of the problem in the elderly and rural population. This ...study assessed the seroprevalence of HIV and syphilis infection among 706 elderly and predominantly rural subjects in Northwest Ethiopia. Socio-demographic information was collected using a structured questionnaire. Venous blood was collected and the serostatus of HIV and that of syphilis were checked by ELISA and RPR, respectively. The total HIV-1 seroprevalence was 5% (35/706). Sex-specific prevalences of HIV for males and females were 5.6 and 4.7% respectively. A 4.2% difference in prevalence was observed by area of residence, which was statistically significant, P = 0.018. Only 6% of subjects positive for syphilis were also positive for HIV, while 4.9% of subjects negative for syphilis were positive for HIV. The data indicates that the prevalence of HIV among elderly people in Northwest Ethiopia was high. This indicates the importance of involving the elderly in HIV/AIDS prevention and control programs.
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