Intestinal Parasitic Infections and Eosinophilia in an Human Immunedeficiency Virus Positive Population in Honduras
The occurrence of intestinal parasites, their regional distribution and their relations to eosinophilia were studied in 133 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive individuals from Honduras. After signing an informed consent, participants answered a socio-demographic and risk factor questionnair...
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Published in | Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz Vol. 99; no. 7; pp. 773 - 778 |
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Main Authors | , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English Portuguese |
Published |
Brazil
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz
01.11.2004
Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ) |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | The occurrence of intestinal parasites, their regional distribution and
their relations to eosinophilia were studied in 133 human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive individuals from Honduras. After
signing an informed consent, participants answered a socio-demographic
and risk factor questionnaire, a complete physical examination, medical
history, and a series of laboratory tests. All participants were HIV
positive but not acquired immunodeficiency syndrome positive. Of them,
67% were co-infected with pathogen and non pathogen parasites. Overall
occurrence of nematodes was: 44.3% for Trichuris trichiura, 24% for
Ascaris lumbricoides, 12% for Hookworm and 7.5% for Strongyloides
stercoralis. No cases of Giardia lamblia, acute amebiasis or
cryptosporidiasis were diagnosed. Mean eosinophil percents for
participants were consistently and significantly higher in infected
than in non infected individuals: 22% for Hookworm vs 7.2% (p <
0.001), 11% for Trichuris compared to 5.2% (p < 0.001), 13.2%
compared to 7.5% for S. stercoralis (p < 0.05), and 12% compared to
6% for Ascaris cases (p < 0.05). Helminths and non pathogenic
protozoa, as single or mixed infections, occurred among the
participants. There was a strong correlation between eosinophilia and
helminthiasis infections; however, none was identified between CD4
levels and eosinophilia. Because parasitic infections aggravate
malnutrition and promote a disbalanced Th2 response in a potentially
immuno-compromised host, their effect on HIV disease progression needs
further study, mainly in countries were HIV and parasitic infections
are highly prevalent. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 1678-8060 0074-0276 1678-8060 0074-0276 |
DOI: | 10.1590/S0074-02762004000700020 |