title: Unapparent microsporidial infection among immunocompetent humans in the Czech Republic.
abstract: In the present population-based study, we determined the prevalences of the most common human-pathogenic microsporidia, Encephalitozoon spp. and Enterocytozoon bieneusi, in asymptomatic healthy people living in the Czech Republic. A total of 382 males and females (ages, 1 to 84 years) living in the Czech Republic, of whom 265 were Czech nationals and 117 were foreign students, were included in a study testing for the presence of microsporidia by use of coprology and molecular methods. Single-species infections with Enterocytozoon bieneusi or an Encephalitozoon sp. were detected for 9 and 136 individuals, respectively. Moreover, coinfections were detected for 14 individuals. Four genotypes of 3 human-pathogenic Encephalitozoon spp. and 7 E. bieneusi genotypes, including 3 novel genotypes, were detected. Some of these were reported in humans for the first time. The highest prevalence was recorded for individuals older than 50 years and for loose, unformed stool samples. These findings clearly show that exposure to microsporidia is common among immunocompetent people and that microsporidiosis is not linked to any clinical manifestation in healthy populations.
authors.affiliation: Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i., University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Bohumil
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sak
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brady
authors.forename: Markéta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pelikánová
authors.forename: Dana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Květoňová
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rost
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kostka
authors.forename: Věra
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tolarová
authors.forename: Zuzana
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hůzová
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kváč
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D058345:Asymptomatic Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018153:Czech Republic / Q000453:epidemiology; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D016819:Encephalitozoon / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016890:Encephalitozoonosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015995:Prevalence; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal