Parasites in nosocomial diarrhoea: are they underestimated?
Nosocomial diarrhoea, defined as diarrhoea occurring more than 72 h after hospital admission, is reported to account for <1% of endemic nosocomial infections and 17% of epidemic nosocomial infections. The yield of diagnoses from stool cultures in nosocomial diarrhoea is low, and information regarding the role of parasites is limited. We conducted a study to determine the responsible bacterial and parasitological pathogens from nosocomial diarrhoea cases in our 2000-bed tertiary care facility over a 16-month period. Of 226 patients, Clostridium difficile toxins A or B were present in 5.5%, giardia cysts and/or trophozoites in 4.4%, Blastocytis hominis in 4.4% and Cryptosporidium sp. in 0.5% of samples. In conclusion, parasites should be sought in nosocomial diarrhoea in endemic areas.
Aygun
G
G
Department of Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology, Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, University of Istanbul 34303, Aksaray, Istanbul, Turkey. gokhanaygun67@yahoo.com
Yilmaz
M
M
Yasar
H
H
Aslan
M
M
Polat
E
E
Midilli
K
K
Ozturk
R
R
Altas
K
K
D000818:Animals; D016845:Blastocystis hominis / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000469:parasitology*; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000469:parasitology*; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005872:Giardia / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006801:Humans