title: Emerging opportunistic protozoa and intestinal pathogenic protozoal infestation profile in children of western Nepal.
abstract: Intestinal parasitic infestation continues to be of public health importance in many tropical and subtropical countries for their high prevalence and effects on the morbidity in the population. This 5-year hospital-based retrospective analysis was aimed to find out the intestinal protozoal parasitic profile in 1790 pre-school and school-going children visiting the hospital with gastrointestinal illness. Giardia lamblia was the most prevalent pathogenic protozoan intestinal parasite (73.4%), followed by Entamoeba histolytica (24.4%). Interestingly, "newer" opportunistic pathogens like Cyclospora cayetanensis (1.0%) and Cryptosporidium sp. (1.0%) were detected from immunocompromised children below 2 years of age as a result of vertical transmission, which is alarming for a country like Nepal at the stage of 'concentrated epidemic' of HIV infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Manipal College of Medical Sciences, Pokhara, Nepal.
authors.forename: Joshy Maducolil
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Easow
authors.forename: Chiranjoy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mukhopadhyay
authors.forename: Godwin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Simantee
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guha
authors.forename: Basavaraj Yogitha
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Jalan
authors.forename: Padavagadu Ganapati
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Shivananda
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004748:Entamoeba histolytica / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D016829:Giardia lamblia / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009390:Nepal / Q000453:epidemiology; D009894:Opportunistic Infections / Q000469:parasitology*; D011528:Protozoan Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies