Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12105/13851
Title
Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Protist Infections in Hospital Inpatients in Southwestern China
Author(s)
Zhang, Shun-Xian | Carmena, David ISCIII | Ballesteros, Cristina | Yang, Chun-Li | Chen, Jia-Xu | Chu, Yan-Hong | Yu, Ying-Fang | Wu, Xiu-Ping | Tian, Li-Guang | Serrano Ferron, Emmanuel ISCIII
Date issued
2021-05
Citation
Pathogens. 2021 May 31;10(6):684.
Language
Inglés
Document type
journal article
Abstract
Cryptosporidium spp., Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia duodenalis, and Blastocystis sp. infections have been frequently reported as etiological agents for gastroenteritis, but also as common gut inhabitants in apparently healthy individuals. Between July 2016 and March 2017, stool samples (n = 507) were collected from randomly selected individuals (male/female ratio: 1.1, age range: 38-63 years) from two sentinel hospitals in Tengchong City Yunnan Province, China. Molecular (PCR and Sanger sequencing) methods were used to detect and genotype the investigated protist species. Carriage/infection rates were: Blastocystis sp. 9.5% (95% CI: 7.1-12.4%), G. duodenalis 2.2% (95% CI: 1.1-3.8%); and E. histolytica 2.0% (95% CI: 0.9-3.6%). Cryptosporidium spp. was not detected at all. Overall, 12.4% (95% CI: 9.7-15.6) of the participants harbored at least one enteric protist species. The most common coinfection was E. histolytica and Blastocystis sp. (1.0%; 95% CI: 0.3-2.2). Sequence analyses revealed that 90.9% (10/11) of the genotyped G. duodenalis isolates corresponded to the sub-assemblage AI. The remaining sequence (9.1%, 1/11) was identified as sub-assemblage BIV. Five different Blastocystis subtypes, including ST3 (43.7%, 21/48), ST1 (27.1%, 13/48), ST7 (18.8%, 9/48), ST4 (8.3%, 4/48), and ST2 (2.1%, 1/48) were identified. Statistical analyses confirmed that (i) the co-occurrence of protist infections was purely random, (ii) no associations were observed among the four protist species found, and (iii) neither their presence, individually or jointly, nor the patient's age was predictors for developing clinical symptoms associated with these infections. Overall, these protist mono- or coinfections are asymptomatic and do not follow any pattern.
Subject
Coinfection | Enteric protists | China | Giardia duodenalis | Entamoeba histolytica | Cryptosporidium | Blastocystis sp. | Genotyping | Molecular diversity
Online version
DOI
Collections