title: Association between parasitic intestinal infections and acute or chronic diarrhoea in HIV-infected patients in Caracas, Venezuela.
abstract: A cross sectional survey was conducted to determine the association between enteric parasites and diarrhoea in HIV-infected adults in Caracas. Three hundred and four patients were evaluated: 104 had acute diarrhoea, 113 chronic diarrhoea and 87 were controls. Isopora belli infection was associated with acute (P = 0.022) and chronic diarrhoea (P = 0.003), Entamoeba histolytica/dispar infection was also associated with both acute (P = 0.015) and chronic diarrhoea (P = 0.017). Strongyloides stercoralis (P = 0.003), and Cryptosporidium parvum (P = 0.017) infections were associated mainly with chronic episodes. Weight loss (P < 0.001), a non-infectious factor investigated, was significantly associated with diarrhoea. Eosinophilia, a laboratory parameter studied, was found to be associated with strongyloidiasis (P = 0.001), giardiasis (P = 0.001) and isoporiasis (P = 0.003). In summary, the presence of enteric parasites in HIV-infected patients from tropical urban areas with diarrhoea, with or without significant weight loss, must be considered. Similarly, eosinophilia might suggest parasitic infection in these patients.
authors.affiliation: Cátedra de Parasitología, Escuela de Medicina J.M. Vargas, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela. AArenas-Pinto@gum.ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arenas-Pinto
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Certad
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ferrara
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Castro
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Bello
authors.forename: L T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Núñez
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000469:parasitology*; D004802:Eosinophilia / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D014687:Venezuela / Q000453:epidemiology; D015431:Weight Loss