title: Blastocystis sp. subtype 4 is common in Danish Blastocystis-positive patients presenting with acute diarrhea.
abstract: Fecal samples from 444 Danish patients presenting with acute diarrhea were tested for Blastocystis and positive samples were subtyped to investigate the prevalence and subtype distribution of Blastocystis in this patient group. A total of 25 patients (5.6%) were positive, and 19 of these patients (76.0%) were positive for Blastocystis sp. ST4. Because the relative prevalence of ST4 in other patients presenting with other types of diarrhea (persistent, travel-related, and human immunodeficiency virus-related) in Denmark is low, the role of Blastocystis sp. ST4 in the etiology of acute diarrhea should be investigated further.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Parasitology, Department of Microbiological Diagnostics, Statens Serum Institut, Artillerivej 5, Copenhagen, Denmark. RUN@ssi.dk
authors.forename: Christen Rune
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Stensvold
authors.forename: Dorte Bang
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Christiansen
authors.forename: Katharina Elisabeth Pribil
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Olsen
authors.forename: Henrik Vedel
authors.initials: HV
authors.lastname: Nielsen
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016844:Blastocystis / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016776:Blastocystis Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000469:parasitology*; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan