Prevalence and management of intestinal helminthiasis among HIV-infected patients at Muhimbili National Hospital.
OBJECTIVE
A cross-sectional study was conducted at Muhimbili National Hospital (Tanzania) to determine prevalence of helminthiasis among in-patients with HIV/AIDS.


METHODS
After signing an informed consent form, participants answered a sociodemographic and risk factor questionnaire. Fecal specimens from patients with HIV-infected and uninfected patients were screened for intestinal helminthiasis (IHLs) using coprological methods.


RESULTS
A total of 146 patients were recruited, of those 66 were HIV-negative while 80 were HIV-negative patients. Thirty-five patients (12 HIV/AIDS and 23 non-HIV/AIDS) had helminthic infections. Hookworms were the most frequently detected helminths among patients living with HIV/AIDS (13.6%) and HIV-negative patients (17.5%), followed by schistosomiasis (9%) detected among HIV-negative individuals only.


CONCLUSIONS
Prevalence of helminthiases (HLs) was observed to be relatively lower among HIV-infected than uninfected patients, which is ascribable to prophylactic measures adopted for patients with HIV/AIDS. Thus, it is recommended that routine screening for HLs and prophylactic measures should be adopted for the improvement of patients' health status.
Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, MUHAS, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Kennedy D
KD
Mwambete
Mary
M
Justin-Temu
Sharon
S
Peter
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000871:Anthelmintics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006373:Helminthiasis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013636:Tanzania / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
D000871:Anthelmintics