title: Prevalence of enteric parasitic infection among HIV-infected attendees of an inner city AIDS clinic.
abstract: One hundred individuals confirmed to be infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), volunteered to participate in a pilot study comparing clinical status and enteric parasite burden with race, age, CD4 levels, risk factors and sexual practice. The prevalence of enteric parasites was 55 (55%) for Giardia lamblia, 6 (6%) for Cryptosporidium, 10 (10%) for Isospora belli and 3 (3%) for Entamoeba histolytica. There was no associations between demographic variables and the presence of parasites. The presence of giardia was significantly associated with anal-penile sex (P = .017), with an odds ratio of 2.9. A logistic regression model was used to explain the presence of any parasite by a number of sexual practices. The only practice found to be significant was anal-penile sex, which substantially increased the likelihood of the presence of the parasites. In this regression, 38.5% of pairs were concordant and 12.2% were discordant. These findings differed from surveys conducted in similar populations. The significance of this will be discussed in the context of medical service provision to this and similar populations.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Otolaryngology, Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA 90059, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Esfandiari
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Jordan
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000818:Animals; D001803:Blood Transfusion; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003457:Cryptosporidiosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D004749:Entamoebiasis / Q000453:epidemiology; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D005873:Giardiasis / Q000453:epidemiology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D007549:Isospora; D015141:Los Angeles / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D016816:Microsporida; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population